


JoJo's Despair-Filled Adventure

by Zatroopa



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canonical Character Death, Crossover, Incest, Minor Character Death, au where despair sisters replace dio, junko and mukuro have english names because this is victorian england
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-01-17 17:09:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 206,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12370236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zatroopa/pseuds/Zatroopa
Summary: Jonathan Joestar's once-idyllic childhood is shattered when his father takes in the children of the man who saved his life. Where he once thought they would become as close as blood-siblings, they instead make it their goal to destroy his life and drag him into despair itself! Marcus Cutler, secretly actually Martha Cutler, and Judith 'Jude' Eydris both have talents unlike any other, but that does not mean they will triumph! Jonathan's still has hope of victory.And so begins a hundred-year battle between the Joestar family and the Despair Sisters! The battle between Hope and Despair begins.





	1. Hey Jude

**Author's Note:**

> Yep, this story is about the Despair Sisters in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and taking the place of Dio. A reverse from Holy Diver, which you can find on my profile. The name-changes are something I've tried to keep close to the Japanese names, but points for anyone who can figure out the references!
> 
> We'll mostly be looking at the Despair Sisters role and it's a mixture of seeing how they are in this world while also studying the characters themselves. Changes to canon may be fewer than some readers may expect, but I also wanted to show how different Junko/Jude would be compared to Dio.
> 
> Either way, hope you enjoy it

**JoJo's Despair-Filled Adventure  
(JoJo's Bizarre Adventure/Danganronpa Crossover)  
Arc One: Phantom Ronpa  
Chapter One: Hey Jude**

 

\---

  
How are monsters born?  
  
Some say that there is no such thing as a person that is born evil, apart from in the world of fiction. That all are pure until their environments either make this basic goodness flourish or become corrupted. That those who once had the potential for innocence and then greatness were failed and instead were pushed down the path of debauchery.  
  
Others say that this is merely an excuse. A way to look at the world with rose-tinted glasses and ignoring the fact that there is darkness within some. A darkness that makes them open to sins such as greed, pride, envy, and wrath. Just as there are those born naturally good, there are others born naturally evil.  
  
Nature or nurture? The age-old question, with its own fair share of third answers.  
  
One such answer is that monsters are born the same way everyone else is born.  
  
For humans, monsters are born from their mothers mostly nine months after conception. The mother lays there and wails from the agony of her contractions and having to push a life out from her very body. There is nothing but herself and the life she is about to free from herself.  
  
Not always alone, but in this particular case, this woman lacks companionship apart from an unqualified doctor. Her husband was poor, although that wasn't why he refused to pay for a real doctor, but rather he was more fond of booze than of his wife who bothered him about the morality of his ways until he'd strike her with the back of his hand, if she was lucky.  
  
Mary Eydris (Brando in many worlds, but not this one) screamed louder and louder and yet she could not be heard by any more people than before.  
  
In most worlds, she would give birth to a son who she would name Dio and this would be the start of a path for a man whose need for power was as endless as the depths he would go to attain it. In many others, she would give birth to a son named Diego who wanted money and power, and was willing to defy morality for it, but knew the meaning of the word restraint.  
  
In this world, however, she would give birth to two girls.  
  
The first would only cry after a firm smack to make sure that she was breathing, but otherwise quietened down and was content to whimper and look upon the woman who gave birth to her.  
  
The second was not quiet.  
  
Ten minutes after the first, she was born wailing and screaming almost as loud as her mother had been. The doctor almost dropped her from the shock and could do nothing but hand her over to her mother and talk about how he should have demanded more from Mary's husband, including choice words for the man himself.  
  
Mary did not try to defend her husband, not least because he did not deserve it. She was instead looked down at her children, both now wailing after the youngest had apparently upset the eldest so, and smiled. She smiled for the two lights in her life. The joy kept her blissfully blinded to the harsh life that awaited them at the hands of Dario Eydris, his last name supposedly meaning island.  
  
_He is an island. An island of sin and drinking and cruelty._ Mary thought to herself, before turning her attention back to her children.  _But not you two. You two will be good to your family. I swear to you, Lord, I will make sure these children will not be like Dario._  
  
The reminder of God, and the fact that it was 23rd December itself, brought two ideas to mind for names. Dario had all but demanded she birth a son so that his name would live on, but years of drinking had caught up and he was no better in his duties in bed than he was elsewhere. He would have to be content with girls, but it had meant Mary wasn't even allowed to think of a name for a girl.  
  
"My eldest," She whispered, looking down at the babe now quieting down. A soft tuft of black hair moved as the child wriggled in closer to her hold. "You are so calm and obedient, even now. But so strong too. You'll make a fine wife for any man, so long as he respects and loves you like you deserve. I'd have named you after Mary Magdalene herself, but it would be vain to give you my name, so I'll give you the name of her elder sister. Martha."  
  
She turned to her youngest, still now fighting and wailing by her left arm. Such open fire and will could only belong to Dario. Whatever his flaws, the man did not lack for sheer daring when it came to breaking the laws of the land or of decency. Compared to her older sister, now whimpering again due to the cries, this child was going to be a handful for sure.  
  
"My youngest," Mary took care to not move, knowing that their skulls and necks were still fragile. "I pray you are not like Dario, but I also pray that you can keep this spirit despite him. Being able to withstand such an evil man and keeping your soul, I can't think of any other name that would suit you, my precious young daughter."  
  
She had read this story of the Bible in her darkest days. The days when she was washing the latest wounds clean and readying to finish her chores whilst her husband laid on his bed drunk and drooling all over. She was barely allowed the slightest room on the bed and only their poverty and Dario's lust kept her from getting one of her own. Yet not even he could keep her from dreaming.  
  
Dreaming of taking a knife and running it across his throat. Letting the red drip down and stain the bed whilst he'd grasp at his neck and try to take a single gasp of air. Sometimes she even imagined looking him in the eye as the anger would turn to fear. He wouldn't even be able to bargain or plead as his mouth spewed more blood.  
  
All he'd have left would be despair.  
  
But not. To kill was a sin. To kill your husband was worse. It had only been acceptable in the case of that story was that it'd save the people of God from death. Mary's abuse was nothing compared to that, even if it sometimes felt a thousand times worse.  
  
"Yet I cannot help but admire her strength of will. A strength I think you have as well. I pray you find a husband who'll appreciate such a character as well," She smiled and kissed the forehead of her child. "My little Judith. The two of you need only to live nobly and with pride, no matter what happens. If you do, you'll both surely be able to go to Heaven."  
  
And finally, as if by magic, that was what made Judith stop crying. The silence was comforting for Martha as well, who took the time to rest against Mary's arm and stare at her sister.  
  
Mary looked down at Judith and saw the bright-blue eyes look up at her in turn. She smiled softly at her. She could have sworn the child smiled back, for just a moment, and was taken back before shaking her head in disbelief. That would be impossible.  
  
After all, how could a child have such a frightening smile?  
  


\---

  
Christ, it was taking a long time for Dario Eydris to die.  
  
He laid in his dirty bed, filled with crumbs and stains, as his bed sores acted up again. He couldn't afford a doctor to move him around and his children certainly weren't going to touch him. He didn't know if this sickness was infectious, if it was they'd have caught it long ago with all his hacking and wheezing, but he wasn't going to have everyone in this house lay about.  
  
The medicine was doing nothing, as he always knew it would, but now not even his booze could save him from the pain. It was some kind of sick torture that he'd have to linger in this hovel.  
  
It should have been obvious. When his wife died, there wasn't as much money as there used to be. Dario could only cheat so many people before they'd catch on and selling all of her shit was only a temporary measure. He didn't even know how his brats managed to afford the medicine keeping him on this damn earth.  
  
Martha couldn't have done it. That plain-faced witch only had one emotion for most, including her own father, and that was cold anger. She wasn't even a proper woman in the ways that counted, always getting into fights and not even bothering to smile. If it weren't for the times where she'd mug the unconscious (and the fact that Dario had started to doubt whether he could actually do it without her killing him), he'd have thrown her out long ago.  
  
Instead, he had to lay there and let her watch and judge him as he died.  
  
_Lousy brat wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for me._ The thought of his ungrateful daughter made Dario think of his other child. The one who actually had a brain in her head, right now using it to knit something, and the will and desire to use it.  _Heh, at least that's one child who didn't listen to their mother's shit._  
  
Jude was a smart girl. She knew that you had to do what you could to get what you wanted. She probably learnt it after Dario nearly got ready to smack off her teeth for stealing his booze back when she was three. Her mother got in the way, however, and Dario couldn't be bothered to hit Jude after that. The brat got the message.  
  
She started using that brain for useful things. She could memorise anything he'd show her, including what a certain hand would mean in a game of cards. Hell, she could even read someone and figure out if it was worth raising or folding against them! It was unnatural! Most of all, it was useful!  
  
His opponents would never suspect that Dario would be given signals on who had a good hand, a bad hand, and who didn't know what they were doing from the girl on his knee. Two months passed where Dario would win every game. He could buy whatever booze he liked! He even found himself getting a taste for some of the finer, and more importantly stronger, stuff.  
  
Right now, he remembered something about Jude playing chess. Dario knew she'd win each game, if she wanted, which made him wonder where the money was. Martha was often with her, so it wasn't like she'd be robbed! Or had she lost the touch like she did before?  
  
_We could have made a lot more, if Jude didn't start fucking up on the cards. I take it back. She's not smart. She's barely useful to me. If she didn't let me have booze with the medicine, I'd have had to beat her like with Martha._ Dario thought to himself. He wondered why he had been cursed with two daughters, especially daughters like Martha and Jude.  
  
If only he had a son! He could have taught him the tricks of the trade and he'd never have to deal with womanly lip! His son would have been a fine man and a worthy heir! He'd have respected Dario and never give him cause to strike him! That was it! Dario's life had been cursed with daughters!  
  
Yet, he had not been cursed in every part of his life. He still had one trick up his sleeve, literally.  
  
That sucker George Joestar! The lord who thought he'd been saved in that carriage accident and even let him off the hook for stealing his ring. He was like all the other noblemen in England- complete idiots who bought into whatever shit made them feel nice. All that money and power...it should have been his! Why had God cursed him to endure such miserable poverty?!  
  
But he could still correct that for his children. If he couldn't enjoy a good life, then why should the Joestars? Why couldn't his children have that fine life?  
  
"Martha, Jude. Come over here." Dario's voice came as a croak. What little strength he had in voice, and his throwing arm, when first inflicted with this damn sickness had left him. Jude put down her knitting-pattern and walked over to the left side of his bed, followed by Martha. "I've got something for you two. It's probably the last thing you'll ever have from me."  
  
The twins stood by each side of his bed and looked down on him. They were both the same size. The big difference was that Martha's face was freckled and her knees and hands were rougher from fighting and working. If it wasn't for the long skirt, she'd have probably been seen as a boy with that loose white shirt of hers. Nothing like Judith's soft purple dress that somehow looked elegant on her, despite being made from stolen curtain years ago. You could see the difference between Martha's short boyish black hair and Judith's long flowing blonde hair that added to her beauty. Jude also was starting to grow breasts, unlike her sister.  
  
Both, however, had those eyes that were blue as the ocean and sometimes made Dario feel like he was drowning. A thrown bottle was normally enough to disperse them and give him some peace of mind.  
  
But he had no time to think about stuff like that. He pulled out the letter and showed it to the girls, although the fact that it was folded kept either from seeing its actual contents.  
  
"A long while back, I found this man named George Joestar in a carriage crash. Thought he was dead like his wife, but he weren't. He was alive and thought I saved him." Dario could barely keep his grip on the letter. He shoved it towards Martha. "Said he owed me a favour. Girls, you go to the Joestars. They're up north in Liverpool. Nice big house and a nice big fortune. You two...I know you two. You won't be soft like those noble girls, but not like them noble boys either. He's got a son around your age, but just a bit older. I know you two. All that wealth will be yours, if you play your cards right. You understand?!"  
  
Martha nodded and took the letter without saying a word. She'd make sure Jude would have a rich place to stay. Speaking of Jude, the girl was just staring and smiling softly at him. Dario's vision was fading, but he could notice the flicker of joy in her eyes. She knew what he meant by his words.  
  
It was enough to make the old man chuckle to himself. His girls would eat the Joestar boy alive.  
  
_Because whatever Mary thought, you two were never gonna be her good little girls._ Dario somehow found laughter in his last moments.  _You're like me. Carnivores that tear those leaf-eaters into food and then into shi-_  
  
He could no longer speak. Not because he lacked the energy and certainly not because he lacked the will.  
  
It was because he could not.  
  
Dario would soon be going to hell, but he had never seen hellfire until seeing the raw contempt and loathing in the eyes of his eldest as she had revealed a large knife, formerly hidden, and slashed it across his throat. It was deep enough that he felt his vocal cords sever, yet too little for his death to be quick. He struggled in vain to stem the bleeding, deluded into believing he could live, when he saw it.  
  
His daughter Jude never had any interest in knitting. He may have noticed it, if he had been a less negligent father, but then he would not be Dario. So he did not ask why his daughter Judith was knitting and nor he did notice the fact that she never put down her needles themselves.  
  
The last thing that Dario would see was the sight of his youngest daughter raising her needles and moving them straight into his eyes.  
  
Unable to scream, he was forced to lay in his bed and suffer. Suffer for the years of abuse he had thrown upon his wife and children, but also suffer for the sake of his daughter's own pleasure at the sight of his torment.  
  
After five minutes of agony, Dario Eydris died in despair.  
  


\---

  
"Hey, Martha." Jude stared at the night sky, watching at the smog of countless factories hid the stars, and the snow fell down on them. "Let's wait a bit before Liverpool."  
  
"Of course, Jude." Martha replied, for once paying her little mind.  
  
Jude slapped her on the back of the head and Martha gasped. Not from the blow, and not even from the surprise, but simply because that was the reaction that she knew Jude would want from her. Being the good big sister who catered the demands of her sibling.  
  
Only Jude knew that Martha was faking, which made her angry.  
  
If she wasn't bothered by it, then what was the point?  
  
"Of all the older sisters I could have had, I had to have the stupid waste of space who doesn't even appreciate the bigger picture." Jude said. She'd have to punish Martha somehow. "Come on, we're gonna live on the streets for a few weeks. Then we're going to buy you some new clothes."  
  
It'd be easy to take the Joestar fortune. It'd be as easy as much of what Jude did. A man who thought Dario Eydris was a man to be trusted was a man who'd buy whatever lie given to him. It wouldn't even be that hard to break his son, or to trick the old coot into writing the two of them into his will.  
  
The only reason Jude hadn't torn up the letter was that there was a lot you could do with the money and title held by the Joestars. Living on the streets would be fun, but it'd achieve little and would do nothing for her. Not when Martha would be around to destroy any enemies.  
  
This? This was the chance for Judith to spread some real Despair.  
  


\---

  
Jonathan Joestar stood by the front hall, doing his best to hide his unease about his two new siblings.  
  
He'd been glad to greet them at first. He had been told that they needed a place to stay and had been happy to be a good brother to them. As selfish as it sounded, he was able glad to know that there'd be another boy in the house for him to play with. He loved to pal around with Danny! It was just that there were some games you couldn't play with a dog.  
  
Sometimes the other children would let him join in. He'd even built up a reputation because of his good nature and his boxing abilities. It was just that the bullies, and sometimes the other children, would make fun of him and say he couldn't be their friend because he was a lord's son. He'd be left out in the cold, only showing tears when they were gone.  
  
But he'd have a new friend to be with when lonely. Jonathan could show them all the best places to go and tell his new brother about who was kind and who couldn't be trusted with a secret.  
  
Another part of him hoped his new sister would give him advice about girls and what they liked. Not that he had ill intentions! He was however beginning to notice that some girls were prettier and kinder than others. The Erina girl, for example, although he had saved her because he was a gentleman! Not because he wanted her favour.  
  
The two who were to live with him from now on were meant to be his family, and yet he could not help but feel dour about their arrival.  
  
It had all started when they exited the carriage. The first thing Jonathan had noticed was that they were the same height and had the same eye-colour. Judith's hair was long, thick and strawberry-blonde in her own words. Jonathan personally would have called it pink under a certain light. She wore a long-flowing red dress, black shoes with a slightly-raised heel, and had held her brother by the arm.  
  
His name was Marcus Cutler, apparently adopting his grandfather's surname for reasons unknown. His hair was short, black, and bobbed slightly, and wore a blue jacket to go with his clean white shirt, polished-black shoes, and a tie red as blood. He had a slightly feminine face to him, off-set by the freckles, but his sharp eyes could only belong a man.  
  
The next thing Jonathan had noticed was that both were smaller than him. Not by a considerable amount, but enough that he wondered if he'd have to help Marcus out when it came to the more physical games. It'd be a challenge, he had thought, but it'd strengthen the bonds between himself and Marcus. Just like how his early tumultuous days with Danny gave way to a strong friendship.  
  
Jonathan had greeted them with a smile and offered a handshake to Marcus. He hadn't even hesitated to welcome the two of them into his family. Marcus seemed too shocked to respond, making Jonathan wonder if he came on too strong, while his younger sister took the time to introduce themselves to him. Jonathan himself did the same, but added that they could call him JoJo like everyone else did.  
  
"Then I imagine you can call me Jude rather than Judith." She had replied, smiling brightly. The sounds of Danny barking and dashing over to meet the new guests caught her attention. "Oh, is that a dog?" She asked.  
  
Jonathan turned to see his lovable companion dashing towards the three of them with delight. Danny was always welcoming of new friends! Jonathan heard the wind pick up, almost sounding like a whisper, and had beamed whilst waving Danny over to them. He had been so sure that they'd welcome Danny's company as much as he did.  
  
He explained how his bark was far worse than his bite and that he was his best friend. The harlequin Great Dane could seem imposing but was actually as gentle as a flower among friends and family. What could be so offensive about that?  
  
Yet, without the slightest bit of hesitation, Marcus smashed his right foot against Danny's jaw and sent the hound flying off. Jonathan had looked on in horror and turned to demand that Marcus explain himself. He had put up his fists, expecting a fight. He was never one to start a brawl, but he would not simply stand by and let the weak be bullied.  
  
He was met with a blank stare. It was as if Marcus had tied his shoes instead of kicking a dog! It was outrageous! It demanded explanation.  
  
However, Jonathan's father had arrived and asked about the commotion. Judith gave an excuse about being startled by Danny and Marcus coming to her defence. Jonathan had wanted to protest, but could see that his father had already accepted that excuse.  
  
Maybe it was the truth. Jonathan had heard from some of the other children that twins had a strange bond with each other. Perhaps sharing the womb had meant they could sense the feelings of the other before anyone else.  
  
That was why Jonathan let the matter drop, after seeing Danny be led off for a meal to calm him down with, and followed his father into the hall for a more formal introduction.  
  
"Everyone, I would like you to meet Marcus Cutler and Judith Eydris, the children of the man who saved my life. They are to be considered as much a part of this family as JoJo." He then turned to the siblings and smiled warmly towards them. "Marcus, please do not consider yourself under any more expectation as a son than JoJo. As for you, Judith, I promise you that your obligations will only be equal to that of other women in your ranking and that, whatever others may say, you are of equal rank to other noble ladies now."  
  
The pair nodded in reply, whilst Jonathan felt a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"JoJo, be understanding about the incident with Danny." His father whispered, crouching slightly to speak into his ear. "I do not wish for this to be public, but they did not know about the favour I owed Dario for a month. They've had to spend time living on the streets and only learnt of us through coincidence. We do not know what they've had to go through, nor should we inquire. Maybe because of this Marcus is extremely protective of his sister and probably assumed the worst."  
  
"It's okay. I'm sure I'd have been panicked if a strange dog came at me as well." Jonathan said. He offered a graceful smile that was met with by a nod of approval.  
  
It also managed to hide the feeling inside Jonathan's heart.  
  
_I still wish Marcus would just apologise though._ He wondered how Marcus could have been so cruel. His inner gentleman, however, reminded him that Jude might have been scared by a large Great Dane running towards her and simply hid it. Marcus was trying to protect his sister, if in a much too brutal manner.  _Oh well. There's nothing to be done. I should at least offer to be friends, if we're to share the same home from now on._  
  
His father walked up the stairs to lead the two to the room where they'd be sleeping. In such short notice, not even the Joestars could prepare accommodations so quickly. That went especially so for twins of different genders. It was a small grace that their suitcases were small and seemed to have little inside it.  
  
Jonathan noticed that neither sibling was moving. Instead, Jude seemed to be staring at something. Jonathan had little time to see what it was, likely just the stone mask his father purchased years ago, but saw a chance to be chivalrous. It'd be a chance to once again offer the hand of friendship as he moved down to take the handle of Judith's bag and-  
  
He felt a tight grip around his arm. It was as if a snake was slowly choking the life from him! He could feel his blood-flow slow down and his arm cry out in pain.  
  
"Wha-" Jonathan could not speak. In the blink of an eye, his arm was twisted behind him and Marcus leaned towards his ear. Even though Jonathan was much taller than him, Marcus was clearly the one in control.  
  
"Did I say you could touch my bag? Did Jude say you could touch hers?" He asked. There wasn't even a hint of emotion! Was this a man or a weapon?  
  
Jonathan tried to explain himself, "I...was just offering-"  
  
"I can carry our bags without issue." Marcus replied. He let go and immediately walked to pick up the two suitcases, carrying them without a problem.  
  
"JoJo, are you alright?" Judith rushed to his side and placed her hands on his right shoulder. What a relief. She was as horrified as he was. Jonathan readied to give her warm words.  
  
"I get it. You wanted to show up the new boy." She whispered. Her voice was light and yet all Jonathan could hear was poison.  
  
"No, it's not like that. I just want to be friends." He said. Why couldn't they just understand that?!  
  
Jude tilted her head and giggled softly. "But how can we be friends..." She moved closer and hissed into his ear. "When I'm going to destroy your life and turn you into a whimpering wreck of a man haunted by Despair?"  
  
Jonathan couldn't hide his emotions. He was shocked! Appalled! Horrified! What did Jude just say? Did she truly just tell him that she wanted to ruin his life? He must have misheard her. There was no way that such venom could come from the mouth of a woman. It had to have been a mistake.  
  
He was frozen solid and did nothing whilst Marcus took both his own and Judith's suitcases and began walking up the stairs. Judith followed shortly behind, only to take a moment to turn her head and grin at him.  
  
"I wonder how it'll look when you crack. Will you be violent and get sent to jail, or will you just jump from your bedroom window in an act of suicide? Ah...I can just imagine it." Jude's voice was soaked in delight at that final word. Then, like a torchlight being blown out, her tone froze to a chill. "Keep your dog away from us."  
  
At that final word, she and Marcus ascended the stairs and left Jonathan's sight. He could only stand there and take in what had just happened. The day that he was meant to meet his new siblings and form two strong friendships had become the day that he met two people who hated him for no reason. Two people who said horrible things to him.  
  
At best, this was a cruel joke.  
  
He prayed that this would be the worst of today.  
  


\---

  
George Joestar looked at the slow, nervous, but ultimately polite and graceful way in which Marcus and Judith ate their meal and then look at Jonathan ravenously devour his as if he had been starved, rather than having lunch but a handful of hours ago.  
  
There was only one word to describe the feeling in his heart.  
  
Humiliation.  
  
He had always known that Jonathan's table-manners were flawed, always using his knife instead of his fork to pick up food and drinking while food was still in his mouth, but he had never realised how bad it was. He had never known just how much he had let Jonathan get away with.  
  
It was disgusting to see the heir to the Joestar name act like a common boor. Correcting Jonathan had become so much of an instinct that he had forgotten just how serious his mistakes were. But to see others of the same age, and not even a hundredth of the training, easily surpass his son made George ashamed of not only his son, but himself.  
  
_Jonathan, you say you're a gentleman, and yet you lact like this in front of your adopted siblings? This is the example you set?_  
  
George wondered why Jonathan would think that eating was some kind of race. That may have been what they did in the slums and in rural America, but this was the home of the Joestars! A legacy dating back centuries of virtuous men and saintly women. A legacy being spat upon. It was made all the more obvious by the way that George's new children acted.  
  
Marcus and Judith were slow to eat. Almost too slow for George's liking, but he could excuse them for this one day. For they were at least trying to learn and remember proper decency at the table. They were doing their best to show George that they may have been poor, but they were not wretches.  
  
To think that they would fear failing him.  
  
_"It's not that our father didn't try to instil good morals into us." Judith turned from him, unable to meet his eye. Normally, he'd lightly scold such an action when speaking to an elder, but knew that she was simply trying to keep dignity. To keep him from seeing the tears in her eyes. "He simply never had the time. He had to spend his evenings working to give us food, rather than to teach us the proper manner of eating. The cutlery we could afford was sometimes so poor that it'd break and we...and we..."  
  
George did not force her to speak further. He could imagine the shame of being forced to eat with their hands like animals, but knew that it would never match the reality. To think of the man who saved his life and his family being forced to such extremities was enough to pain his heart.  
  
No wonder Dario had tried to sell off his ring all those years ago. He was simply trying to provide for his children.  
  
"I wonder why Dario never came to me for money, if he needed it?" He asked himself. Was Dario afraid he'd be turned away by one of the servants because of his haggard appearance?  
  
Judith shook her head. "It's a long trip from London to Liverpool, and even harder to trust that a letter would be sent when you're poor. Besides, he was always a prideful man. He never mentioned the letter. He once told us that he never wanted us to see him a beggar, leeching off others to live, even as we fell into poverty."_  
  
_"Only we knew he'd beg on the streets to pay for our books." Marcus added. There was a bitter edge to his voice. It shook as he spoke each word, likely from the still-fresh wound of having lost such an admirable father. "There was only one thing he cared more than his pride as a man."  
  
"Dario." George thought back to the times when he almost doubted Dario's sincerity. All those times, whilst Dario was putting his children first. He was ashamed of himself, but could redeem himself by helping these children. "Your father truly was a good man. None of us would be here if it wasn't for him." He said, to which Judith nodded.  
  
"He's the kind of man that Marcus himself aspires to be. Isn't that right?" She asked, turning to Marcus.  
  
Marcus' whole body was shaking. It was obvious how he was feeling, but he still kept them hidden inside and was doing his best to show a calm front. George felt pride that such a young boy could display such stoicism and strength for his little sister, and sadness that such a burden was placed on his shoulders._  
  
_"Yes...he is the kind of man I aspire to be." He could barely say the words. George was touched that, even with the respect he held for his father and the pain he still felt at his suffering, that he could confide in the man who took him and his sister in.  
  
Both Marcus and Judith ran over to hug George as tightly as they could. It was not the proper way for a gentleman to act in public, in Marcus' case, but what man could refuse such a gesture so soon after the passing of the father of these two? What sort of brute would forbid this emotion in the privacy of their own home, in front of their family.  
  
Another side of him felt that Marcus and Judith were hugging each other a bit tighter than normal, but that part was squashed. The bond between siblings, especially twins, was one he had little experience of. The adversity they faced must have made that bond all the more stronger.   
  
He also had another matter to attend to._  
  
_"Do not worry. Simply look upon my family to know the appropriate table manners. Do not fear that your backgrounds will hamper you in any way. Judith, you'll be as grand and graceful as yours and Jonathan's mothers,. _In time, you'll soon be as gifted as my son in the academics and in the gentlemanly pursuits, Marcus."__  
  
George now regretted those words. Not because of any failing on the twins' parts, but because of a failing of his own. The failure of a father to teach his son the ways of a gentleman.  
  
_How could I have been so arrogant when Marcus is already surpassing Jonathan at the table?!_  
  
It was not only table manners. In study, Marcus took longer than Jonathan but he still managed to beat him in marks, however narrowly, and that was without Jonathan's education. How could George have failed as a teacher? Judith herself was a natural prodigy in her own lessons. It almost bordered on being unfeminine, but Judith had a clear talent for the traits needed to be a noble woman. George even wondered if he would need a governess to teach Judith at this rate rather than overseeing her himself.  
  
She was even correcting Marcus whenever he was about to make a mistake since the start of the dinner. Only now they were looking at Jonathan in confusion, not that he noticed, and the two were now whispering at each other. George might have told them off for whispering at the table, if it wouldn't be so hypocritical of him when he had allowed Jonathan to act as he was.  
  
"But JoJo is going as fast as he likes. Are you sure?" Marcus whispered. For the first time today, he sounded unsure of himself.  
  
Judith paused before speaking again. "I was sure of what little Father taught me, but perhaps I was wrong? But then why is Lord Joestar showing much more grace? Are we still children?"  
  
George could no longer stand it. It was disgraceful enough that Jonathan disregarded all manners, but this was worse. His son always called himself a gentleman while he was providing a poor example to his new siblings! How could George have been such a failure of a father!  
  
He was ready to scold Jonathan when his son, already taking his next cut despite his latest bite not even swallowed yet, callously knocked down his glass of wine.  
  
At long last, George Joestar lost his temper.  
  
"Jonathan, how can you call yourself a gentleman when your manners are such?! How could I have spoiled you into being such a poor example for your siblings?" George asked. He gave his son no time to reply, knowing that there was no excuse. He clicked his fingers and turned to a nearby servant. "Jonathan has finished his dinner. Take his plate away."  
  
"But Father-" Jonathan's protests ended with a single glare. Instead, tears gathered in his eyes when his plate was taken away, and he ran from the dinner table with a loud wail.  
  
The sight only embarrassed George further. He turned to his other children and did his best to salvage Jonathan's dignity for him.  
  
"I'm sorry you had to see that. I had thought I taught Jonathan better. Please do not doubt your manners; they are impeccable." Said George. He did his best to lower his voice after shouting at Jonathan. "Your room should be ready by tomorrow, Judith. Until then, I'm afraid you'll have to share a room with Marcus."  
  
"It's alright, Father. We've had to sleep as such for a month, so what's one more night?" Judith asked rhetorically. "We'll need more pillows to create a divide. Like the knights and ladies in the middle ages, though."  
  
"Judith, I wonder what I can actually teach you, in regards to being a noble woman. The two of you will do more than give pride to the Joestar name." George said. He had started today believing that Jonathan would be an example to the twins, and yet instead they were proving to be the children he wished Jonathan could be.  
  
And so the three of them, putting Jonathan's poor manners and tantrum behind them, enjoyed their dinner in good company.  
  


\---

  
Martha was her real name. She could never forget that.  
  
Even as Marcus Cutler stood just in front of a pentagon of wooden fences, surrounded by cheering young men who stared at him, Martha could never let them know who she was. Jude stood just behind her, pretending to fret and worry over her, and Martha turned to face her younger sister and gently hold her.  
  
Jude knew how to phrase her 'warnings'. It was another thing that Martha's little sister surpassed her in. Martha could never find the right words to tug at the heartstrings of the crowd and yet make them believe that Martha was a threat. Not only that, but that JoJo should have the advantage.  
  
After all, he wasn't like these  _commoners_. He was the son of Lord Joestar. He probably had more time to train than any of them.  
  
Also, where Jude was covering her eyes with her hands, she left a hole for her to peek from and watch.  
  
Martha was still getting used to boy's clothes. She preferred the practical trousers and shirts to the usual dresses, but she always had the fear that her black shirt wasn't loose enough or that the signs of her womanhood would somehow show on her blue trousers, or at least that people would notice a lack of manhood. All she could do to keep calm was to smack her black boxing gloves together and focus on Jonathan.  
  
He certainly had a fine figure. Bright blue eyes just like hers and Jude's, but his blue hair going down to the back of his neck, whilst otherwise neatly cut, went much better with his white tank-top shirt and his red gloves. The grey shorts revealed the muscles built on his legs. His whole body structure made Martha wonder how she had managed to overpower him yesterday.  
  
Martha, however, could also need the simmering fear in Jonathan's eyes. He had already been cornered and made an outsider in his own home and was now cautious that 'Marcus' was about to do the same in front of his friends.  
  
Before Martha could react, however, her sister let out a loud cry.  
  
"I cannot watch. Even if it's simply a friendly fight, I thought we were simply going to have a nice walk." Judith wailed and hid her face with her hands dramatically. The boys around them instinctively gave her sympathetic looks, but not protesting Martha's decision.  
  
Playing her role, she chuckled deeply (or as deeply as she could) and patted her sister's head, "We will continue it later, Jude." She said, before smirking at Jonathan. "This will not take long."  
  
"Amazing! That confidence! That certainty! Marcus Cutler is certainly laying down the gauntlet to Jonathan! Ah, and the lovely Judith Eydris! Showing her concern for her brother, yet letting him follow his pride." The self-appointed announcer cried out.  
  
Martha held her sister close to her, letting the long blonde hair rest on her chest. Martha was fine with the times that Jude would bully her, whether it was tugging on her hair or pinching her or even spanking her buttocks, because that was what made her little sister happy. It brought Jude despair, and thus happiness, to make her sister suffer and her tastes were already unorthodox. If Martha could make Jude happy, then she was happy.  
  
But that didn't mean she didn't enjoy the moments where she could hold her sister gently and reassure her. It made her feel like a knight comforting the princess he just rescued.  
  
_"Promise me, Martha."_  
  
Yes, this did feel right. Martha continued to pat Jude's head before turning once again to face Jonathan.  
  
"Watch it, Martha. You just earned yourself three ear-twists when we get back home." Jude said. Her voice was low enough that only the two sisters could hear it.  
  
That too made Martha smile, and also lightly blush to herself, as Jude then covered her face and mewled. Her little sister had to restrain her true feelings when having to play the part of the good little noblewoman. It was cute to see, but meant that she had to take her frustrations out on Martha.  
  
The first night at the Joestar mansion had Martha try to hold Jude, only for a definitely-not-asleep Jude to rub her long hair against Martha's face in an attempt to suffocate her.  
  
It never worked, but Jude tried anyway.  
  
Martha faced down her opponent and he did the same. Jonathan seemed like a kind and caring man. He met her and Jude with an open smile and an offer of companionship. It was perhaps the first time that someone had ever approached her first instead of Jude. That someone chose the lesser sibling. He had even offered to take their bags even after Martha kicked his beloved dog, on Jude's orders.  
  
He seemed like a bright and shining light. He seemed like the kind of man that Martha's mother would have approved of.  
  
_But he's in the way. He is in the way of the life that Judith deserves above all others._  
  
"This bout will be until the first blow to the face." The announcer said. The hand he'd been holding up was thrown down. "Begin!"  
  
Jonathan threw the first punch, as expected. He wasn't the type to simply bait the opponent but instead start with a strong and furious assault. The cries of the crowd fuelled him further as he threw right and left jabs as if he were a rifleman shooting his rounds. He was fast. Perhaps one of the fastest opponents that Martha had ever faced.  
  
She could feel the wind smack against her cheeks as she ducked and side-stepped away from each blow. Jonathan had the definite size advantage on her, but she could use that for her own means. She could duck lower than Jonathan could reach and it took less effort to move around his strikes.  
  
But he was fast. If this went on for too long, she'd have to end this quicker than Jude would have liked.  
  
_JoJo, you may be the finest boxer in this village. You may even be the finest boxer among your peers in all Liverpool._ Martha thought to herself. For anyone else, dodging each strike with her speed and precision would seem impossible. From the very first moment, however, Martha controlled this fight. She moved Jonathan so that his back would be to Judith and Martha could wait for the command to be given. In the meantime, she counted how many openings he left.  _But you will never strike me._  
  
Martha had been told by Jude that she would be a boy in the Joestar mansion. It had been chosen as a way to test her skills in acting (which Jude had claimed were as lacking as her looks) and also to help steal away the Joestar fortune. To offer up a new male heir in Jonathan's place.  
  
As for the name, she had chosen the name of a god of war. The closest she could find was Marcus, an altered version of the name Mars. She did not fight for the hedonist reasons for the Greeks and Romans, however. She was fighting for the purest love of all; the love between family.  
  
Martha had protected Jude from the bullies of the playground, the con-men of the street, and even from their own drunken beast of a father when their mother could no longer be his punching-bag. But not only then! Martha had refined her skills in the boxing booths and pubs of Ogre Street. Anyone who demanded she pay for Dario's debts, with her blood or body, were crushed with ease.  
  
Other times, whenever there was a tournament, she would even disguise herself and fight all other opponents until taking the prize money for herself and Jude. Jude would then 'pretend' to accidentally reveal it to their father who'd then waste it on booze.  
  
In all those fights, however, there was one constant in all of them.  
  
Unless Jude desired it, Martha had never been hit once.  
  
Not defeated. Not bloodied. Hit.  
  
Martha found her opening on the left side of Jonathan's face. She manipulated his movements so that his back would be to Jude and she looked to her sister, who was revealing her face now that everyone's attention was elsewhere, and awaited the signal.  
  
Jude pointed to just the side of Jonathan's left eye and Martha readied to obey the command.  
  
_Sorry, JoJo._ Martha shouldn't have felt bad about striking her opponent right on the side of his left eye. She'd done it dozens of times and hard enough to send the eye flying, but not this time and that didn't even make a difference to the tiny but real pang in her heart.  _But your destiny is to bring Judith happiness through Despair._  
  
She punched him in the face, and it sounded like a bullet hitting its target. Why wouldn't it when her fist moved at such a speed? Jonathan's face contorted and he lost his footing. He flew back so far that his head almost crashed against one of the ring-posts, but stopped just half a metre away. His nose was gushing blood and he seemed unable to move from the shock.  
  
Not that anyone around him cared. They were too busy rushing forward to congratulate the winner and be the first to claim friendship with him. Jude beat them all to the punch, however, and wrapped her arms around Martha's neck and snuggled into it.  
  
Martha, for her part, blushed at the contact, especially when she felt Jude's chest rub against her right arm.  
  
To avoid complications, she hugged Jude back for a few moments and let her little sister play up the frightened act to assist in Martha's own Bruford act.  
  
"See, Judith. It's okay. You didn't need to be scared." Martha ruffled Jude's hair, which got a cheer from the crowd, and made her little sister giggle innocently in front of the crowd and pull him closer again.  
  
"Oh you are getting the nipple-cripple later on." She said. A shiver crawled down Martha's spine from both fear and anticipation. "I know how to get into your room too."  
  
"That was amazing, Marcus! How did you do that?" One of the audience members asked, interrupting the sisterly moment.  
  
Martha could not find the energy to play the confident rogue for much longer. Shrugging her shoulders, she replied, "It's a special skill I learnt in London. I can teach you if you like."  
  
"Wait! You can't tell them now, Marcus. If JoJo hears, he's just tell everyone. You can't trust a tattletale like that!" Judith whispered, yet also loud enough for everyone to hear, including Jonathan himself. He reacted as if he'd been slapped.  
  
"Wha-But I've never-"  
  
He could do nothing. The rumour had already been planted by a trusted source and everyone accepted it as truth. The very people who used to be friends with Jonathan turned on him within an instant. Yet were they ever his friends then? Were they not supposed to trust his word?  
  
Apparently not. They were more than happy to take the thought of Jonathan the Rat and go along with it. Martha felt disgusted by their idiocy, before reminding herself that this was what Jude wanted. This was exactly Jude had predicted and Martha should have been glad for it.  
  
Jonathan would become isolated and lonely at home and in his social life. He would be bested in every aspect that he and those he cared about valued. His happy childhood days were to end, at the hands of Martha and Jude, and he would become nothing more than a husk of his former self. No family and no friends.  
  
He would then break down and weep in despair. A despair that Jude would then feast upon and indulge herself in before convincing George Joestar to send him to an institution. Martha could see it already. The kind of man who'd beat his son over a few poor marks and deny him food would think little of removing such an issue to the family name.  
  
But such thoughts weren't for Martha, because thinking wasn't for Martha. Her role was to follow orders and execute Jude's will, not least because Jude was meant to be the sister who could think and command, and nothing else.  
  
Martha's mission in life was to be the best sister for Jude she could be.  
  


\---

  
Erina Pendleton was ashamed to admit that the first thought that came to her mind was that Marcus' lips and hands were softer than she expected.  
  
She should have ran the moment she had seen Marcus' gang nearby. Marcus had been wearing white shirt and trousers, but was here for a black deed. The cruel questions and Marcus' irritated tone should have told her that they knew about her wonderful day with JoJo. Had she ran, there was a chance she could have gotten away and preserved the memories of her time without any corruption or shadow.  
  
Now she was stuck being a victim.  
  
She tried to push and slam her fists against his back, but it did nothing. If he had forced his tongue inside her mouth, she'd have been even more ashamed, but at least she could have bitten on it until the disgusting appendage would have been torn out. Anything that could have made Marcus move away and stop kissing her.  
  
What made it worse was that she realised what hitting and tearing his shirt did. It only made it seem as if she was trying to take it off. As if she was no better than those women her father told her about. Those who traded their bodies for money.  
  
"He-He actually did it!" The two boys behind Marcus said. They were once her bullies, but now they were simply minions of Marcus. "Amazing! He does what we can only imagine and he does it without hesitating!"  
  
No. They were minions of the evil little girl who stood between the pair and Marcus.  
  
At first, Judith Eydris was someone who Erina hadn't thought badly of. It was mostly because the other girls in her social gatherings acted as if she was some vagrant off the streets and it touched her heart. She pitied the poor girl whose only crime was to have been poor and now adopted into a rich home. She thought Judith would have been frightened.  
  
Judith was anything but. In a single day, she had charmed all of the ladies with her open, bordering on offensive, manner and it must be said that her beauty won over many of the others. She offered tips on how she looked the way she did, and her grace and elegance in knitting, dancing, croquet, and conversation itself was enough to dominate. It seemed as if she could do no wrong.  
  
Erina knew better. She knew that there was something wrong with Judith. The way her eyes flickered whenever she heard the latest gossip about another's failings, or how she avoided saying yet somehow shouted from the rooftops about which girl was the most mannish looking. About who was looking at which boy too kindly to have not done something with him. She did her best to foster rivalries and tear friendships apart, all while looking as innocent as Queen Victoria. The new arrival had quickly found herself a gang of hanger-ons who obeyed her every command and would spread any rumour.  
  
She had stayed clear of Judith, but now she understood just what this girl was.  
  
Evil.  
  
A soft cough, barely loud enough for Erina to hear, and Marcus threw her to the ground like trash. She landed in a nearby puddle and kept herself from crying, even as the muddy water stained her clothing. It was a mess compared to the pristine white dress that Judith wore, in stark contrast to her blackened heart.  
  
"Erina! How can you look at me like that?" Judith gasped loudly and looked away. Tears gathered in her eyes as she said, "All I wanted to do was ask about how my older brother is doing, and instead I find you throwing yourself into Marcus' arms and kissing him. His very first kiss!"  
  
"No...you're wrong..." Erina protested.  
  
"Oh? It was your first kiss? That makes it worse!" Jude asked, leering in closer. The only people who could see that disgusting grin, long and showing every single one of her teeth, were Erina and Marcus. "You spent the entire day with JoJo, saving him from depression, and yet your first kiss wasn't with him, but with Marcus!"  
  
Erina knew that was the case, but it didn't stop her from sharply breathing in. It was as if the moment between being hurt and realising the pain had just ended.  
  
Yet Jude was determined to make it last longer.  
  
"How does it feel to be the kind of girl who plays two boys off one another?" Jude asked, ignoring that it was by her silent command that Marcus forced himself on her. "What will the other girls say? Erina Pendleton, the girl holier than thou, is actually a wanton woman? I wonder how many boys you'll have tempted, by the time the rumour reaches JoJo's ears? Three? Five? Jonathan will never look upon you as a woman of virtue ever again! Let the despair run over you and choke you for all time!"  
  
"W-Wow. Judith is really getting into it." One of the bullies whispered.  
  
"When a man goes that far, it's daring and exciting," The other said, admiration now turning to discomfort. "But a woman? Someone meant to be graceful and sweet. It's strange. Who taught her to be so-"  
  
"What did you say about my sister? Did you just question her grace?" Marcus turned and whatever emotion was in his eyes, it was enough to frighten them into submission, despite the heightened pitch.  
  
"Nothing! We said nothing!"  
  
"Y-Yeah. No one can doubt Judith's lady-like qualities. She's as pure as Mary mother of Jesus and only equalled by the Queen! U-Un-Unlike Erina! A right toffer she is!"  
  
Judith, who hadn't seemed bothered by their earlier remarks about her, giggled and looked down at the floor and away from Erina. She took this chance to move, while Judith enjoyed her misfortune. "That's right! Erina is a toffer. If someone doesn't do something soon, though, she'll be a bunter!" Erina knew what that meant. Half a beggar and half a prostitute. The bullies loved that word, along with toffer for an effective lady of the night. "How does it feel, Erina?! How will it feel when JoJo discovers just how many boys you've-"  
  
Judith finally stopped talking. It was probably because she had finally noticed what Erina was doing whilst she cackled and concocted foil poisons like the witch she was.  
  
The puddle-water tasted terrible. It was deep yet runny as it splashed against her lips, leaving mars of dirt all around her face. It'd have been a nightmare for her any other time, and yet might as well have been holy water right now. Not that it made the taste of the few droplets that reached her tongue any better. She wanted to retch but stayed calm.  
  
She gathered more of the water in her palm and put it against her lips once more. Whatever its taste, it was infinitely preferable to another moment of knowing that her lips were touched by Marcus'. She could never wipe away the moment or memory, but she could wipe away any physical trace.  
  
Yes, there was a river just a short walk away. It would only be a handful of seconds. But one second; even one more second was unimaginable! To have to live another moment without washing away that kiss would be to spend the rest of her life with an awful sin. So she went straight for the puddle, for even dirty water was better than the taste of Marcus' lips.  
  
Erina looked up at Judith, who looked down with blank eyes, as if they questioned why she would go so far over a kiss, and met her stare head-on. She would not back down here. Not when she was faced with a monster like Judith Eydris. She knew in her heart that she had to make her stand here.  
  
She would not give Judith the satisfaction of seeing her despair.  
  
_Even if JoJo believes me to be wanton and deceitful. Even if the rumours make me weep later on._ She glared up at Judith with defiance.  _I will not let you see me cry, Judith!_  
  
After a moment, Judith sneered at her and clicked her fingers. Marcus dashed to her side in a single moment, standing for attention and awaiting his orders like a well-trained hunting hound.  
  
"Marcus. Correct her." She commanded.  
  
He did not hold back. Erina felt her teeth shake and cheek sting as she was sent falling to the ground next to the puddle. The tears in her eyes were an instant reaction to the pain, but Erina kept her body steady and refused to sob. Marcus could beat her all he liked but she would not give in.  
  
However, her refusal to react seemed to have bored Judith. Erina looked up to find the girl walking away with Marcus and his cronies in tow. Rather, those bullies were Judith's cronies and simply didn't know it. Erina had refused to give Judith what she really wanted, but she now was alone on the path and forced to realise what she had lost.  
  
Her first kiss. The moment she had wanted to share with JoJo had been stripped away from her. Just because she had rescued him from the misery that Judith and Marcus threw him into.  
  
How could people be so cruel?  
  
Erina did not only cry over that, however, but because she knew that the rumours would reach Jonathan somehow. He would hear and be made to judge Erina. A small piece of her mind feared that he would reject her, so lost in despair that he would no longer be able to trust even her. But she had to have faith!  
  
So, even as she cried, she did her best to hold onto hope.  
  
_JoJo, please have faith in me._  
  
It was a mere prayer, but it was all Erina could do.  
  


\---

  
Jonathan Joestar smashed through the front door as if he were a steam train.  
  
A voice in the back of his mind panicked at how the doors slammed against the wall and then crashed to a shut, but Jonathan did not care. How could he care about mere doors at a time like this? After what he had heard?! When justice and decency were on the line here?!  
  
"MARCUS!" Jonathan roared. He saw the twins sitting by chairs near the fireplace, Jude kept readying her book, although giving him an absent look whilst Marcus stood from his chair.  
  
"JoJo, you do not speak our names without permission. Remember that." Jude said, treating him like he was a servant. No more would he play along with her games.  
  
"Was it you, Judith?! Was it you who spread those disgusting rumours about Erina?!" He asked.  
  
"I don't recall spreading rumours." Jude replied innocently. She bit her lip and hummed. "I may have mentioned you and Erina having a lovely time a few days ago, Erina and Marcus kissing, and then Marcus having to slap Erina after she got dirty. If there's stories of her with other boys, then that's her business."  
  
"Don't pretend you have no idea how rumours spread!" Jonathan snapped. So it was true! It was their fault! "There were likely other girls who disliked Erina for whatever reason, or are close to you, along with those bullies who now follow Marcus and despise the weak or simply hate Erina for having a wealthy father. They hear your stories, with only a single thread of truth, and turn it into a festering web of lies and hatred!"  
  
He knew that starting a fight would anger his father. By now, the word of Marcus and Jude would mean more to George Joestar than that of his biological son! He would think that Jonathan simply assaulted and threatened his innocent siblings.  
  
Yet that did not matter! Jonathan was fuelled by a righteous fury he had never felt before. He could feel the anger once directed at the bullies who tauntingly told him of the rumours about Erina and focused all of its flame and heat onto the man who had dishonoured Erina. The cruel monster who had kicked his dog, thrashed Jonathan, turned his friends against him, and had now disrespected an innocent maiden!  
  
He would punish Marcus Cutler if it was the last thing he'd do!  
  
"Marcus, I won't let you ruin my life, or Erina's life, any longer!" Jonathan rushed forward without thinking. How could he think when an innocent maiden's honour was on the line?  
  
He dashed forward and threw the first punch. A powerful right blow that would floor an ox! Yet there was too much strength to it, sapping away at its speed, giving Marcus the perfect opportunity to turn and duck the blow. With lightning-speed, Marcus slammed his own fist against Jonathan's gut, knocking the wind right out of him.  
  
It was the same as before! Jonathan cursed his recklessness. Not because of picking a fight with Marcus, but because he had forgotten to account for his speed and willingness to play dirty. He had to be ready to defend every part of his body within a second and to not let Marcus get anywhere near his eyes.  
  
But Marcus wasn't finished yet. He crashed his elbow against the same spot, turned his body so that Jonathan's right arm was draped over his chest, and somehow threw him not only over his shoulder, but flying into the wall! A resounding crash echoed throughout the room as Jonathan's back smashed against the wall. The portraits of the front hall shook from the impact.  
  
Jonathan, meanwhile, felt his body plummet straight down and he landed on the top of his head. His senses stopped functioning for a moment before slowly returning to him. His vision blurred, he could taste the blood in his mouth, and heard soft but cruel laughter coming from Jude. Marcus, however, just stood there and watched him.  
  
There seemed to be no malice in his eyes! No hatred or fury, but the look that a predator would give its prey. A natural sense of superiority and hunger. It was as if Jonathan, for all his size and training, wasn't even a threat to Marcus at all. That the younger boy just naturally bested him.  
  
Jonathan managed to find his footing and stood up, if his back was to the wall, but couldn't stop his tears.  
  
_Can I even defeat him?! Marcus...does he have no weakness in his form?! Is he some reincarnation of the Roman God himself?!_ Jonathan asked himself. Yet he couldn't give in! Not when the stakes were this high. He had to fight here and now and he had to defeat Marcus.  _If I can't even defeat him in my own home, for the sake of an innocent like Erina, then what can I do? I'll spend the rest of my days cowering in the shadow of these two!_  
  
"Do you get it now, JoJo?" Judith asked with no small amount of satisfaction as she put down her book and stood to face him. "My brother lacks in intelligence, but makes up for it in fighting prowess. No matter what you do, it's useless. Marcus is faster, stronger, and more experienced than you. You can fight him a hundred times and lose. You can fight him a thousand times and lose. You can fight him ten thousand times and lose! Just give into the despair and wallow in it. Spend the rest of your days as a wretch and leave everything to your dear younger siblings!"  
  
"Simply walk away, JoJo. If you continue, I won't stop until you're a pile of waste on the floor." Marcus warned. If he had a cooler head, Jonathan may have made more of the pity in his voice just then.  
  
Jonathan grinded his teeth. It was true that Marcus' power was overwhelming. He had no idea where he trained, or if this was simply a gift from God himself, but he could now see that this was not the true battle. Jonathan would have to give it his all against Marcus, but he knew that victory would not only be decided by who won between the two boys. For Marcus, this was not an act of passion, but an act of obeying a command.  
  
Despite having kicked Danny, a cruel man would argue that there was little to separate the dog and Marcus.  
  
For Marcus was but a pawn of the true evil that had dishonoured Erina's name and was trying to destroy his life.  
  
The true evil was Judith Eydris! The girl who was standing on the sidelines and taking a mad pleasure in what she was seeing. Her older brother beating down her eldest sibling in a battle for the honour of another woman, all because of her machinations. Hiding in the shadows, she played the perfect lady, but inside there was a poisoned heart! He was sure of it.  
  
It was obvious what Jonathan had to do. He needed to show Jude that she would not break him and that he would not stand by and let her abuse the weak any longer!  
  
"No...I won't give in!" Jonathan said, as blood dripped from his nose and the sides of his lips. He charged forward and shouted, "Marcus! I won't stop fighting! You'll have to break my arms and legs before I allow you to spit on Erina's name like that."  
  
"Then I'll break your arms and legs." Marcus replied simply. He ducked Jonathan's left hook, making the Joestar pull back, even as he left an opening in the one place he'd always been told to protect.  
  
Marcus leapt into the air and span in place. Jonathan believed that some referred to it as a 'spin-kick', but had little time to think as Marcus' right foot slammed against the left side of Jonathan's skull. Disorientated, he could do little to stop Marcus from then smashing his right knee against Jonathan's nose. He felt bones crack and blood spurt from his nose, staining Marcus' clothing, but his opponent remained unharmed.  
  
What should have happened was Jonathan stumbling back from the pain. His every instinct screamed at him to build distance between himself and the person destroying him.  
  
Yet he refused! Jonathan's mind triumphed over his body and focused on the one mistake that Marcus had made. The fatal flaw that would allow Jonathan to turn the tide of this battle!  
  
It was not only his first chance, but also his last. Jonathan could not take any more blows and both he and his opponent knew it. Marcus could just play it safe after this.  
  
Jonathan had to be like the heroes of old; King Arthur, Robin Hood, Bruford and Tarkus, Lord Nelson, and a hundred others more! He had to resist the pain and instead strive forward to protect the innocent from the cruel! The honour of the Joestar name, and of the girl tormented by these twins, demanded it of him!  
  
Pushing his left arm forward, Jonathan's hand found its mark and grasped on tight. He had never held onto something as hard as he was doing now. He could even feel the pressure he was exerting on Marcus' bones.  
  
He had caught Marcus' right leg with his hand! There was nowhere for his opponent to escape. The very realisation managed to shock Marcus into a few seconds of vital stillness. For it was much easier for Jonathan to then yank him towards him and deliver a thundering headbutt to the centre of Marcus' face, which let Jonathan let go and instead slam his shoulder against Marcus' chest. He held him in place as he readied his next attack.  
  
_Jude, you're right about Marcus. He is faster and more experienced than me. But you're also wrong about him!_ Jonathan held firm, even as Marcus struggled and fought against his grip. Jonathan once saw a trapped fox fight the way that Marcus was now; panicked and moving place to place with all its might and abandoning all logic for instinct. It was no use for the younger man.  _He's not stronger than me and it's not useless!_  
  
With a single powerful slam to the ground, he sent Marcus' back crashing onto the ground and finally had the upper-hand. Marcus slid back and threw himself onto his feet, but Jonathan had been waiting for that.  
  
There was no righteousness in beating an opponent while holding them down.  
  
At that same moment, Jonathan landed a left hook, and then a right, and then another left, and another right, and on and on it went. Jonathan refused to let up on the strength or intensity of his attacks. He would not give Marcus even a moment to gather his thoughts. Again and again he slammed his fists against Marcus' face, sending blood and spit flying.  
  
"I won't despair! I won't stop this! I'll keep going until you're crying on the ground and begging for Erina's forgiveness! Marcus, you may be named for the Roman god of war!" Jonathan spoke within each blow before he then readied the upper-cut to end this fight. "But you're nothing than a gilded thug until you learn the value of honour!"  
  
His fist hit the bottom of Marcus' chin and he sent the smaller boy sky-rocketing into the air before he plummeted down and fell to the ground with a loud crash. Jonathan sighed in relief, thinking he had finally defeated Marcus, as the boy didn't seem to be moving in a hurry.  
  
That was when he heard it.  
  
The sound of something spouting off from somewhere. He turned to find the source of the noise and it turned out to be the stone mask itself. Spikes of some sort had jutted out from the sides of the mask and seemed to curl around where the face should be, only it didn't go far enough to cover the whole skull.  
  
Jonathan would have asked more questions, but he had no time.  
  
He turned to Jude, who was frozen solid and stared at Marcus' body, when stiffness gave way to energetic shaking. Her eyes were wide open and all her usual grace was gone. She seemed almost gone to the world itself. If he didn't know any better, Jonathan might have even assumed that she was scared.  
  
(If Jonathan looked a bit harder, he'd notice the way her pupils were moving like flies, almost rolling to the back of her head. It was like she was analysing every bit of the scene and searing the memory into her mind.)  
  
But that didn't stop him from marching over until he was directly in front of her.  
  
"Jude. I do not know why you hate me so much as to try and make me a stranger in my own home. I do not know why you wish to do me harm. I do not even know why you made Marcus kick Danny. But I will say this," Jonathan pointed a finger down at Judith's face and roared again. "If you ever try to hurt Erina again, I will never forgive you! You will do everything you can to end this horrible rumour and you will apologise to Erina, do you understand me?!"  
  
His sister said nothing in reply. She merely looked up at him and stared. She was still shaking and seemed to be whispering so quietly that he couldn't hear a word. Regret began to seep in and Jonathan began to wonder if he'd been too harsh on her-  
  
"Hit me." She said.  
  
Jonathan couldn't stop confusion was drowning his anger entirely. "What did you just say?"  
  
"Hit me....hit me like that." Jude's former image of a perfect lady was gone. Spit running down the sides of her mouth, her whole body was shaking with anticipation, and her eyes were strange. It was almost as if they were beginning to...swirl? "Hit me. Hit me as hard you can. Knock out my teeth. Beat me until I'm crying on the floor.  _Just hit me_."  
  
What was she talking about? Did she truly believe that he would ever do something like this? He had to correct her assumptions.  
  
"Jude...I may be ready to use violence to protect those I care about, but I'm not going to hit you. I am a gentleman and a gentleman never strikes a-"  
  
_"Get away from her."_  
  
Marcus' voice was much softer than before but yet had a dark and bestial quality. It was like he had become a monster. Jonathan turned to face him and was shocked to find that in Marcus' right hand was a knife! A small but still sharp-looking knife that was ready to plunge into his flesh if he didn't defend himself in time!  
  
Before their battle could resume, it was ended with a single voice.  
  
"Jonathan, Marcus, Judith!" At the sound of his father's voice booming, Jonathan turned to face him on instinct. A part of him prayed that Marcus' knife would be seen, but he noticed that he was standing in the perfect position for Marcus to hide it again. "What is the meaning of this? Why are the children of this house shedding blood?! Well? Answer me!"  
  
"Father..." Jude slowly turned to face him. Her voice shook and, for a brief second, Jonathan could see the tears in her eyes. "Thank goodness you're here."  
  
Judith had never cried like this before. It was loud and wretched and made Jonathan's heart briefly weaken. His father seemed touched and whatever anger he could have possibly felt towards her had vanished. Jonathan himself was reminded of how Erina wept as she ran away from him, ashamed of the rumours that had been spread about her.  
  
"It was awful! One moment, Marcus and I were simply reading, but then Jonathan burst into the room screaming about something. Marcus stood up and screamed back, and before I could do anything, the two started fighting with each other, and all I could do was watch. Watch as they both tore into each other." Jude turned back to face Jonathan. The fear in her voice, almost too close to genuine, was matched by the glee in her eyes. "For a moment...I even thought they would end up hitting me."  
  
Jonathan tried to defend his case. He had to let his father know what kind of people these two were. "Father, I-"  
  
"Boys your age are prone to fight, that is something I have accepted, and I presume you at least intended to never harm a woman." Lord George Joestar could barely control his anger, waiting a moment before speaking again. "But to even make one believe that you would do so, even by accident when brawling like a drunken fool! I am ashamed, Jonathan! Marcus, I had thought Jonathan had been mercilessly assaulting you, until Judith said you fought as savagely too. The two of you are to go to your rooms and remember the rules of this household. Your punishments will be decided later."  
  
"But-"  
  
"I understand." Marcus said, cutting Jonathan off. He looked down at the ground, before looking up to look his father in the eye. "I'm sorry to have let my emotions get the better of me. I should have remembered that this is not Ogre Street."  
  
"This does not change your punishment, Marcus, but your apology is appreciated. You could learn something from him, Jonathan." After scolding his sons, Jonathan's father looked down at his daughter and spoke in a kind tone that Jonathan hadn't heard from him in a long time. "Judith, could you come with me? A woman should not cry like this in public and we might as well go over etiquette lessons. If you like, I'll show you some of my wife's jewellery. In a few years time, it may become your jewellery in a few years."  
  
Jonathan knew the truth, however, about Marcus. The boy couldn't hide his emotions as well as he thought he could. His whole body shook like Jude's had yet he could actually recognise the emotions this time. There was an anger deep inside of him. He was a chained tiger, furious yet impotent, and would likely try to kill Jonathan right here and now if their father wasn't watching.  
  
He looked away from Marcus' red-hot fury, but then found himself facing Jude instead.  
  
She was exceptional at faking tears and then hiding them. A talent unfitting for anyone, least of all a noble woman, but a lesser man might admire how she made it seem as if she was composing herself. Yet she could not hide what Jonathan and Marcus could see. She could not hide the smile in her heart.  
  
Jonathan had won the day, but he feared for what would come next.  
  
He especially feared for the next innocent on their warpath.  
  


\---

  
The smoke danced into the sky as the kindling within the furnace had a new addition to the usual compost. If someone opened the window to their cross-dressing sister's bedroom, like Jude had, then you could even smell the cooking flesh wafting in the air.  
  
You would also find in that very room two sisters resting on the same bed.  
  
One sister, older and yet stupider and far less impressive, was resting on her side and refused to speak or move. She had been the one to find, restrain, and sneak the hound into the furnace before it had been turned on. She was the one who had to walk all the way back to her room and know that she had just murdered a dog.  
  
The other sister, younger and still superior, sat on the other side and taunted her older sister by gently gliding her finger on Martha's weak-points. She made her sister whimper with each stroke on the nape of the neck and enjoyed every noise she could force out of her. Martha was supposed to be the eldest and she was actually a total pushover for her younger sister.  
  
It was why she murdered the dog. Because Jude wanted her to. All so that she could see the crying face of the boy she felt an interest for.  
  
He'd cry for the loss of his first friend and drown in despair. Even if it was only for a few seconds.  
  
For someone like Judith Eydris, the very picture of Jonathan weeping over the ashes of his Danny was enough to make her blood race. A part of her wondered if it would anger him as the incident with Erina did. He'd storm into their bedrooms, demand the truth, and this time he would beat it out of Jude.  
  
The thought of JoJo losing his composure and sacrificing all chances of being a gentleman. The idea of being beaten to a bloody pulp as Martha could do nothing to help.  
  
Jude had to wipe away the drool and find a distraction.  
  
Bullying her sister always helped. Whatever Despair she once felt from it had gone away after realising that Martha was far too into it to even fake being saddened by the abuse. But maybe tonight would be the exception!  
  
"What's wrong, Martha? Are you sad? Angry?" Jude asked. She crawled closer to her sister and grinned. "Oh yeah, you like dogs. They're dumb and drool and follow orders and stink so of course they're your favourite animal! Are you upset, Martha? Are you sad because I made you put JoJo's dog in the furnace?"  
  
Martha said nothing, like the idiot she was, but she couldn't hide how her nails dug into her palms.  
  
After a few more seconds, she finally replied. "No. Jonathan dared to threaten you. This isn't the first dog I've killed for you. Besides, my favourite animal are wolves."  
  
"But that's the thing, my stupid and smelly older sister," Jude leaned in close enough that she could lick Martha's ear, if she wanted to. "Wolves are just dogs that haven't been tamed yet."  
  
Would Martha be tamed? Would she sell out her sister in the name of the Joestar family?  
  
She would never even think of it today, tomorrow, or even for a year. But what about the year after? What about when the love and caring of the Joestars touched her heart too much to bring herself to destroy this family too? Would she reveal the truth about Judith, no matter the consequences?  
  
Or would she be boring and obey Jude's every command like always?  
  
_Who knows?_ Jude asked herself. She relaxed and stretched herself on Martha's bed, knowing she'd have to depart to her room via the window again soon.  _I'll play nice from now on, JoJo. In front of you, I'll be the perfect little sister, just like Martha will be the perfect little brother. Will you ever forgive us for this? Will you never look at us with trust again? Ah, I can't wait JoJo..._  
  
Jonathan had surpassed her expectations. She had never been wrong about someone before until now. The lord's brat who was meant to cry and sob after his beating instead stormed in and managed to hit Martha. He had defied the odds through his will and hope alone and demanded that Jude redeem Erina's name! He defied the insurmountable odds against him.  
  
It was confusing. It was frightening.  
  
The despair almost drove Jude to a high.  
  
_That hope, JoJo. Your strong will and kind nature. It's the kind of thing that only comes once every hundred years._ Jude smiled and wrapped her arms around herself.  _I can't wait until I get to break it._  
  
And so, as the sounds of a dog howling in pain as it burnt alive filled the air, Jude felt her lungs swell with so much happiness that she had to let it out.  
  
"Upupupupupupupupu."


	2. Twist and Shout

**Arc One: Phantom Ronpa**

****Chapter Two: Twist And Shout** **

  
\---

  
The noon sky was cloudy enough that it was like a grey-white blanket covered nearly all of it and kept anyone below from seeing the sun. However, despite this, it was not a cold moment. Most of the people gathering for the event had jackets and coats, but for those without, they did not feel any nipping sensation on their bare hands. Neither did they feel as if today was any different from the usual English summer.  
  
In fact, those on the field right now would agree that today was a fine day for a rugby game.  
  
Not just any rugby game, mind you! There were no prizes or trophies to be won, now that all of the tournaments had ended and all the cups had been won. The only reward today would be a great swelling of pride in whichever team would manage to come out on top.  
  
For this was the final showdown for Hugh Henderson Academy. The last step on a path to a perfect year. The fire in their hearts easily kept them safe against the wind from whichever direction. It pushed their bodies to go further than they normally would.  
  
The audience for this rugby game saw this passion and it both fuelled and was fuelled by their hearts. But not simply that of Hugh Henderson Academy, but of their opponents as well. Just as one team was determined to secure victory, the other team was equally willing to do all they could to prevent it.  
  
The end of the second-half was approaching and the scores were equally tied. Some members of the Henderson team had gotten arrogant in their success and neglected training, while the opposing team mixed ferocious drive with clever tactics. One moment, they would play with caution, and then with blinding fury!  
  
In such a heated battle, the announcer of this game needed no speaker or equipment other than his voice and hands, the latter cupped over his mouth to amplify his voice. It boomed across not only the crowds but the entire field itself.  
  
Still even he was silent right now. For his, and everyone else's, attention was focused on one thing and one thing alone and that was the rugby ball flying in the air. It began to descend towards a forest of great oaks in blue shirts all reaching out to seize it. Much of the Henderson team, trying as they could, were too far to reach it.  
  
Apart from one player. Wearing the green and white striped shirt of his school with pride, this single man jumped as high as he could and grasped the ball first.  
  
"He caught it!" The self-chosen announcer cried out. "What an amazing interception by the hero of Hugh Henderson Academy! Even as the only one of his team in the pile, he still overcame the odds!"  
  
He was built like a mountain and landed with a firm thud. Dust blew from where he landed, but he wasted little time in noticing. Running forward, he put his mind towards one objective and one objective alone. To reach the goal.  
  
In spite of his massive physique, even by the standards of the other players, he was quick on his feet. A true result of training and effort coming together as one! The ideal player should balance between strength, speed, and smarts, and this man had lots of all three to spare in the eyes of his peers.  
  
But he would never say it. To do such a thing would be to indulge in his pride and come off as boasting. That was no mark of a gentleman.  
  
As he moved forward, he opened his mouth and let out a long and deep cry. In any other situation, he would be seen as a strange person, but in the field of rugby?! That passion was admirable! He was showing his team that he could carry their dreams of victory with him!  
  
"The usually mild-mannered 195cm giant is now screaming at the top of his lungs as he makes his way to the goal-posts! Can he make this final game before graduation into the last and most glorious point of his team's winning streak?!"  
  
But not so fast! Jonathan felt a pair of strong arms coil around his chest and a firm weight crash against his back. It nearly knocked him off his feet, but he regained his footing.  
  
"He's just been tackled, but there he still stands!" The announcer shouted. Jonathan allowed himself a confident smile, but paid for that when another two took their chance and pounced on their prey.  
  
The weight of those three men could have taken down a horse, especially when using their strength to drag him down like that. One on his leg and the other on his arm, both on his left side and dragging him down.  
  
But not now! Jonathan summoned all his strength, let out another shout, and pushed onwards! It was as if he were a mule pulling a heavy plough along, but it was still movement!  
  
Slow and steady was how the tortoise won the race, was it not?  
  
The awe in the announcer's voice was inspiring in itself, yet barely matched the shock of the crowd. "Oh my word! He's doing it! Jonathan Joestar, even with three opponents doing all they can to stop him, he's still driving forward What power! What spirit! There are no brakes on the JoJo train!"  
  
Jonathan wished that was true.  
  
However, a fourth man made the jump and landed straight on his back. All four men refused to take a chance and pushed themselves leftwards to bring Jonathan down. They were throwing everything they had just to stop him now.  
  
He knew that merely standing up was an achievement and that no one would blame him for tilting towards the ground. To even keep moving would waste his energy and that his momentum was already lost.  
  
It didn't mean he wasn't trying his hardest to stay upright.  
  
"He's finally wavering. It was a miracle that he could withstand three opponents, but a fourth was too much. But who can blame him?!" The announcer asked, almost heart-broken, and dancing a fine line between choosing a side in this game.  
  
Jonathan, despite his best efforts, knew that he could not last forever. He would not even last the next ten seconds. It'd be a shame to let the team down, but the body could only go so far to match the resolve of the heart. He desperately looked around the field for a certain someone.  
  
They needed to win this game. To obsess over victory was unattractive, but Jonathan for one moment put such manners aside. It was not his pride he was concerned for, but the pride of his team and his school! The ones who he had fought and celebrated alongside for his entire time at Hugh Henderson Academy!  
  
That was why he searched for his opening!  
  
He then spotted it. The person he could trust most on the rugby field was making their way towards him. The man he could count on to carry on and win this game with only a handful of seconds left for them.  
  
Jonathan threw the ball back and in a spin. For a moment he feared that he had thrown it with too much force to be caught, or too fast to be intercepted in time. Who could even catch such a ball?!  
  
"And he passes it to..." The announcer paused for a moment. For that moment was when a hand, much smaller than the other player's, firmly grasped the ball. "The receiver- It's none other than Marcus! Marcus Cutler!"  
  
Marcus was the smallest member of the team. Everyone on both the Hugh Henderson and the opposing team were giants compared to a man who looked so thin and insisted on a loose shirt. He would have looked out of place were it for the one thing that mattered most.  
  
That cold yet burning determination in his eyes. The way they looked forward and saw nothing but the goal and the obstacles that were in his way.  
  
"For anyone unfortunate enough to have only watched this team play now, you may think that this man is a hare in the lion's den. And why not?! He's only 169cm tall and facing not one, but two towering enemies behind him, each of them large enough that he only comes up to the bottom of their shoulders," The two opposing team members, having failed in their task to keep Marcus back, tried to regain their honour by making a jump for one of the two star players. "But try to keep your eyes on him!"  
  
Jonathan felt the men holding him down let go, swearing under their breath a bit too much for his tastes, and dash to catch Marcus. But deep down, as with most of the experienced watchers, they knew it was doomed. It was only the thrill and hope they held in this game, fed by a strong strategy early-game and their own hearts, that made him think otherwise.  
  
As the two players behind him jumped at him, Marcus almost vanished from sight as he ran to the left. The two attempted-catchers instead fell to the ground and hit each other instead.  
  
Marcus rushed across the field like a fired bullet, crouching down the way a wolf might in order to pick up speed. He didn't even hesitate once in the face of the three-man wall running to meet him. They were positioned in a slight curve, to catch Marcus if he tried to move left or right, but close enough to one another that he couldn't sneak through the cracks!  
  
Could he make it through this?  
  
Of course he could and of course he did. It was not even close.  
  
The oncoming wall had neglected one little detail about their plan. He might not have been able to go around or slide under, but Marcus could still jump over them! Had they watched him play with their own eyes, they could have guessed that he'd easily twist and move his body to dodge their flailing arms as well. It was like watching a hare face down turtles.  
  
Jonathan would admit that this wasn't even Marcus's most admirable achievement this season. He had to give that prize to the time when he had managed to avoid an entire team trying to tackle him even after being surroundeed.  
  
Marcus' size had helped him be more acrobatic than the others, true, but Jonathan had never seen anything like it before. It was unreal!  
  
"You see?! Whenever Marcus has the ball, the other team might as well surrender the try! For there is one constant in these games ever since Marcus joined the rugby team." The announcer held up his right fist and screamed as loud as he could, "He has never once been successfully tackled!"  
  
Marcus, now free of obstacles, made his way towards the goal. Would this be it? Would this single run be the final chapter in the glorious tale of the rugby team at Hugh Henderson Academy?!  
  
As he neared the goal, Marcus leapt up, positioned the ball, and descended! This was it! No one could stop him now! The ball slammed against the ground and Marcus fused the momentum of the push to go into the air with a flip and land on his feet.  
  
At that, there was an eruption of cheers from the crowd and from the team. Naturally, there were a few distraught watchers, and certainly the opposing team were saddened, but even Jonathan could do nothing but cheer!  
  
"That's it! That's the try!" The announcer said. "Whether you supported them or opposed them, you cannot ignore the amazing feat that this team has accomplished."  
  
The entire team rushed over to hold Marcus up as their champion; the man who secured the win. As always, whenever this happened, Marcus seemed to sit awkwardly on their shoulders, but how a man chose to sit on shoulders meant nothing when he had achieved what Marcus did. Besides, there was something human about how uneasy and nervous the usually-stoic man was at the moment.  
  
Jonathan was the last to reach his brother, but no less happy to congratulate him and give credit where it was true. Marcus was let down, which made him calmer, and looked up at Jonathan with a now-red face. The cold was probably affecting him after the adrenaline of victory wore off.  
  
The announcer was as impressed with the two as always, "I can't think of a more perfect duo than JoJo and Marcus! Is there anyone who can even remotely control these two when they're in such perfect sync?!"  
  
Jonathan and Marcus grasped each other's hands tightly. For most, it would seem comedic because of their height differences. Yet, after what they had achieved together, size meant nothing when looking at the two brothers congratulating one another.  
  
"JoJo, we did it. Can you believe it?" Marcus asked, looking up with a rare smile on his face.  
  
"That was an amazing dash, Marcus. When it comes to speed and grace, I doubt there's anyone in the world who can top you." Jonathan replied. He sincerely meant it too, although Marcus seemed reluctant to take the praise.  
  
"I wouldn't have been able to make my way through those bodies without causing a foul though. I couldn't have scored that try without you."  
  
Seeing the two brothers bask in victory and show such a strong bond was enough to make the team and crowd cheer once more. Jonathan himself felt warmed at the reminder that all his efforts over the years had partly led to this moment. Marcus too seemed happy to bask in it all, rather than escape like usual.  
  
To everyone around them, these two were truly brothers. Not by blood, yes, but by their friendship and tight bond with one another.  
  
"Jonathan Joestar has published a magnificent thesis in the field of archeology, and Marcus Cutler is said to be considering either entering Sandhurst or to follow the footsteps of the likes of General Gordon in the Sudan or the pioneers of Southern Africa right after graduation. On and off the field, these two men seem destined for greatness!"  
  
"JoJo, we should tell Father about this immediately. It should do his spirit some good." Marcus said. He already turned his back and moved to get off the field as soon as possible.  
  
Or perhaps to get away from the press that were slowly moving into the field, likely searching for an interview with either Jonathan or Marcus.  
  
Jonathan lightly laughed at the antics of his younger brother. He never liked it when the attention was on him, compared to Judith who embraced it like a cold man to a blanket, and it helped make him less of a man made from stone to many. The other team-members laughed with Jonathan as they made their separate ways.  
  
Only when he was sure that no one could see him did he stop smiling.  
  
 _Seven years since my Father first welcomed Marcus and Judith into our home. It seems more like a century. I smile and treat Marcus like a brother and Judith like my sister. Sometimes I feel as if Marcus has even opened his heart to me, or at least desires to._ Jonathan gritted his teeth.  _But in my heart, I cannot forget those early days of ours. I cannot look at those smiles and warm words we now exchange and think it truth!_  
  
He remembered the fights of their childhood, both physical and mental. He remembered how Marcus drove him away from not only his friends, but his own father. He remembered Judith whispering poisons as well about Erina and her innocence. It was only luck that saw her stop the rumours- or at least keep them from being spoken of openly- just after Erina had to go with her father to India. Jonathan liked to believe that had been enough to save her reputation.  
  
But the damage was still there and it seemed too convenient to be true.  
  
And how could Jonathan ever forget Danny and what had been done to him? That had been no accident.  
  
 _I can't forgive their early villainies! Is this merely bitterness disguising itself as caution? Am I simply keeping them at a distance because of childhood grudges? Or am I simply refusing to believe in their trickery?_ Jonathan had wrestled with these doubts for a long time. Two basic instincts warred inside him, in the years after his younger siblings had apparently changed their ways.  
  
Should he not believe in the idea that his fellow man was good and could change? Did a few weeks of evil outweigh seven years of kindness and companionship? Yet Jonathan's heart told him to stay alert. Should he not believe in his own instincts?  
  
It was these questions that vexed him. Just like how, from the corner of his eye, the press were vexing a found-out Marcus, who wasn't appreciating the attention.  
  
"Come on, just a few details. All about your deep friendship with JoJo." One of the journalists pleaded.  
  
"I have a close bond with all my family who I love dearly." Marcus said, using a cold and clipped tone so unlike how he'd been just a few moments ago. "So please do not delay me from time with them."  
  
With that, Marcus turned and walked away. His pace was quicker than before and he left the journalists without even a scrap to consider. Jonathan didn't blame him for it, not after hearing what could be published. Yet, despite how ungentlemanly it was, he could not stop himself from overhearing some of what they were saying to one another.  
  
"Don't take it personally. That's how Marcus is with everyone but family." An older man said, patting the now-downhearted junior on the back. "All the men admire him and all the girls have a soft-spot for him, but Marcus just ignores them. JoJo's probably his only true friend, apart from his sister. If you ask me, I think that tough act's just to hide him being shy. He doesn't even shower with the team! He does it alone where no one can see him."  
  
"I heard he waits til he's home." Another journalist whispered. His voice carried a crueller edge that made Jonathan uncomfortable.  
  
There it was. The reason that Jonathan couldn't find it himself to condemn Marcus for his rudeness.  
  
Before he could hear his brother's name be besmirched any further by opportunistic writers, he turned and walked another path towards the Joestar home. Both paths taken by him and Marcus would intercept soon enough.  
  
It was longer, but much more preferable than spending any time with rumour-peddlers.  
  


\---

  
Yes, Marcus Cutler does attract his fair share of rumours.  
  
An orphan taken in by a rich family, having early troubles with his older brother, and often being emotionally cold and mostly responsive to family only? Why it's the perfect set-up. It's hard to think of anyone who can attract more whispers and stories about them.  
  
Most are innocent, such as him having a crush on this or that girl, or that he's just incredibly shy or sensitive and fears people making fun of him for it. Others are so bawdy and silly that only someone determined to dislike him would believe it, such as Marcus liking to wear women's clothes or has some medical condition like constipation or chronic mouth ulcers and that this is why he never shows emotion or talks that much.  
  
Others, however, are of a different nature.  
  
Maybe it was Marcus' character that led to such rumours getting out. After all, you had a few servants who felt that while a gun and knife collection was a perfectly fine hobby for a young man with a keen eye, there was something wrong with that look in his eyes when he'd look at them sometimes.  
  
That while learning other martial arts, some from Europe and others from the Orient, was a pleasant eccentricity, Marcus' blank demeanour and willingness to sink every possible free hour into it was...unnerving. His trance-like state could be frightening to most people. It was like they were just statues to him at times, for all he paid them mind.  
  
A fondness for hunting could never be a sin in the world of British nobility. For some lords, it was the foundation of much of the lifestyle and principles of the nobility itself from the cause of pest control and population preservation to the sport itself!  
  
George Joestar had been glad to see that Marcus had taken such an interest at such a young age. A fine way to build ties with other noble children who'd otherwise, and lamentably, look down on him for his background. The boy was also a good shot so there would be no fear of mistakes that'd hurt him or the animal.  
  
But Marcus was not a good shot.  
  
Marcus was a perfect shot.  
  
Deer-stalking, bird-shooting, and even just target-practice saw him miss his mark ten times in his first year, five in his second, two in his third, and now it was once every two years. Give him a rifle and you'd find yourself a successful hunt.  
  
Strangely enough, Marcus seemed less interested in fox hunting for the sport and more for the hounds. A bit too attached for someone whose role was to ride the horse rather than train the hounds.  
  
But when he shot, it was like the entire world stopped existing. There was even that flicker in his eyes whenever he made a kill. To some, it was just the sense of achievement, but to others it was something darker. As if he felt natural doing what he had done.  
  
Taking a life.  
  
So there was the rumour that Marcus Cutler was an emotionless psychopath who was behind this and that missing person. His family were accomplices via love or blackmail and any emotion he showed was just a front. Or that he was actually some kind of beast-man who had to be forced to clean himself at home.  
  
Still, that was likely just the talk of a few bitter teenagers over a lost rugby game, or perhaps being shown up on the field by some street-rat when it came to shooting. After all, who could deny the way he treated his beautiful and kind little sister? She and he was like day and night, but the two got along so well.  
  
He treated her so softly and gently and gave her the smiles and tenderness that so many girls their age wished he'd show to them. Truly the purest love was that of family.  
  
Only, was it completely familial?  
  
No one knows where this rumour started. All people really knew was that the only time that Lord George Joestar ever heard of the tale, it was the only thing that he had to be restrained from physical violence so unlike his gentlemanly reputation. They said his desk still had a dent from his fist.  
  
Needless to say, it was made clear that even speaking of the rumour's existence was grounds of being dead to the Joestar family.  
  
And why not?! Such a sick and evil rumour had no place in the Joestar home. To think that these two children who had done so well for themselves, despite such tragedy, would be treated like such by strangers.  
  
Who was this former maid that supposedly saw the two lying in the same bed at the stroke of midnight? Who was this street urchin who swore that he saw the two kissing, or rather one devouring the other's neck, in an alleyway whilst on a shopping trip? Who were these people who dared speak such foul lies?  
  
What did go through the minds of some people?  
  
Rumours truly were a vile thing, especially when involving incest.  
  


\---

  
George felt another coughing fit burst out from him. His throat ached in protest but there was nothing he could do. Not when his lungs felt as if they were bloating against his bones. Still, the coughs were lighter than they normally were. That was a good sign.  
  
He just wished the recovery would happen sooner, so that he would not have to worry his children so much.  
  
"Father, how are you feeling?" Marcus asked. He leaned in as if to help in some way.  
  
Marcus and JoJo had only just returned from their rugby game no more than fifteen minutes ago. They wasted little time in coming over to his bedside to likely tell him the good news and ask about his condition. George had been pleased to see the two regardless, having heard the fantastic news.  
  
Their final victory at school. An entire winning streak had been because of those two. They must have wanted to tell him as soon as possible, which explained their own slightly heavy breathing. After such a competitive game, and running all the way home, it made sense that they'd be tired.  
  
Such robust bodies could never get sick like his was.  
  
Jude had been tending at his bedside ever since he had first fallen ill. He had faith in the usual staff of his home, but had to wonder if his condition would have been on the mend by now if it wasn't for her constant presence. It had been her who welcomed JoJo and Marcus into the room in the first place.  
  
She had truly taken to commanding the household.  
  
 _Ah, Judith. I wonder how much of my recovery has been because of your tireless good work in keeping order._ George thought to himself. It was almost like being watched over by an angel, or even his beloved and missed Mary. The garden of the Joestar Manor had not bloomed as much as it had now since Mary's death.  
  
Judith had mastered every part of being a noble lady. Piano and the violin came naturally to her, she mastered all her lessons, and she had a knack for croquet, although she lost enough times that she could still entice others to a game. Excluding that incident six months ago...such a tragedy.  
  
No one would ever think that she had only been a part of the upper-class for seven years. Her activities were refined and perfect in every way.  
  
She had even began tending to the sick children in the surrounding areas. She would knit and stuff these white bear-cubs (although she insisted they were meant to be fully-grown) and then give them to the children. She'd even play and make voices for the bears to entertain them.  
  
In fact, there had been a rising incidence of sickness as of late. It must have been where George got it from. His consolation was that his family was otherwise in perfect health, if in need of comforting words.  
  
"I'm actually feeling rather better. Except for this dreaded cough," George said. Speak of the devil, the blasted thing struck again and he was left coughing for five seconds. He withheld a wince at the pain in his lungs, to avoid worrying the children. "The doctors want me to go to a hospital, but Jude here thinks home would be better."  
  
Marcus nodded fervently. "I agree. Hospitals just see people like you as giant bags of money. They don't really try to cure you. Just make you lay in a solitary room in a palace of infection."  
  
"Don't worry. I plan on staying in the comfort of my own home." George said. He spared Judith an apologetic look. "Although I do feel terrible that you've felt it necessary to stay locked up with me, Jude. Surely your friends must miss you and I would hate for you to catch my cold."  
  
"They understand. And you should focus on taking your medicine rather than worrying your personal Florence Nightingale." Jude frowned, but her soft giggling and teasing look towards her brother dispelled any presumption of anger. "Marcus isn't the only one with a strong constitution."  
  
"Indeed. I believe that my health will only improve now; my chest-pains are weaker and the swelling has gone down. I must confess, Judith, that I'm crediting a part of this recovery to your effortless help." George reached over and took Jude's hand in his own. He looked into her eyes. "You've managed the household as wonderfully as any woman I can remember, all while taking care of me. I know you see no issue with it, but I have to apologise for putting this burden on you."  
  
JoJo seemed worried about that, as if he was thinking of something else, whilst Marcus look at Jude with a strange look in his eyes. It was hopeful and yet sad. Marcus was always protective of Judith, so maybe he felt bad, as did Jonathan for putting the burden on his younger sister.  
  
 _Perhaps I should lighten the mood._  
  
"Ah, I had almost forgot. Judith and I heard of your victory today." He said, unable to resist smiling at the shocked look on the faces of his sons.  
  
"How did you know?" Jonathan asked.  
  
George winked as he replied, "An old college friend called me."  
  
"Some friend. And after we ran all this way to be the first to tell you." Marcus said, his face in a slight frown but his usual stoic expression enhancing the impression. An impression shattered when Jude laughed again, making her brother blush.  
  
"You sound so offended. This is going to make the celebration for when Father's fully recovered awkward."  
  
The four of them laughed as one. They all knew that Marcus wouldn't show his discontent if it bothered his family. George wondered if Douglas knew how lucky he was that Jude was around to keep her brother grounded.  
  
"I'm proud to have had such excellent children." George first looked to the wards he took on seven years ago. "You two have come especially far. Judith, I'll be sure to help find you an admirable husband. People have heard of your beauty, grace, and intelligence, but most importantly, of your kindness and love for all around you. Only someone who admires you for your gentle soul deserves you. Marcus, wherever your dreams tell you to go, I will support you the same as always. You two are family. My funds are your funds."  
  
Marcus replied first. "Thank you for lifting us out of poverty out of the kindness of your heart. We will strive to keep improving." He said, clearly yet almost coldly.  
  
"And the first step to improvement is self-care. Cleanliness is godliness, after all." Judith nodded and then pointed at her brothers. "So you two need to shower."  
  
Jonathan tried to protest, even though it was obviously useless. "B-But we already did so back at scho-"  
  
"And then you ran all the way home. Father's sinuses may be blocked, and the two of you may be strapping young men, but a woman can tell when her home no longer smells of roses." Jude said. It was a logic George had learned, as a husband, was one that no man could overcome. Standing up, Judith moved to her brothers and softly pushed them towards the door. "Come now, Father also needs his rest."  
  
In the last seven years, at least one thing stayed the same and that was Jude and Marcus being the same size. Perhaps that was why it shouldn't be strange that she could corral him out. Yet for Jonathan to also be moved, despite having a 26cm height over it, made the image of these two strapping young men being dictated to by a woman all the more humorous.  
  
All in good fun, naturally. It was amazing how some men, no matter how strong, could crumble when faced with a woman's determination.  
  
"I should also look for a husband who can embrace that spirit of yours." George laughed, feeling his heart warm, before the blasted cough returned. Jude rushed from the door to his side again and offered him the glass of water by his bedside. It helped to clear his throat, at least. He sighed to himself. "Jonathan and Marcus. I've raised two fine gentleman...but I sometimes wonder if I had been too harsh. I think of dinners and tests where gentle reminders would have been better suited than the cane."  
  
"Father, you can't fret over the past now. You need to look to the future with hope." Jude said softly. She took his hand and gently held it. "The days when JoJo would cry in his room and wonder if you loved him are gone. He's matured."  
  
Did Jonathan truly think such things all those years ago? This was the first that he had ever heard of this.  
  
George, in his old age, had attained the maturity to know that, while he would never have been proud of Jonathan if he had become a lout, he would have still loved him. That was unconditional. His discipline had been harsh, but it did not come from a place of hatred and loathing for him.  
  
 _Did I make him believe that I would have thrown him out, or disregard him as my son if he did not meet standards._ George thoughts then turned to Marcus and his words earlier.  _Does Marcus believe that I see him and Judith as charity cases?_  
  
His heart, so recently warmed and strengthened, was now troubled. Doubts of his own family pierced his soul and briefly weakened his constitution. That must have been why another coughing fit struck him.  
  
Judith quickly told him that she'd go and get more medicine. The doctors said not to go over a certain dosage, but George trusted the judgement of his daughter. She had never lied to him before. She left before he could say anything else.  
  
But he did remind himself to ask her for more blankets when she returned.  
  
The room felt a bit colder than it did before.  
  


\---

  
Leaving the soon-to-be-corpse's bedroom couldn't have happened fast enough.  
  
Having to get the old fart his blankets would have normally tempted her towards just choking him, or adding more poison to the 'medicine' than normal, but this time she managed to keep her cool. She managed to play the good little girl and make Fake-Daddy think she just wanted to help him.  
  
Yet there was a bright side to having to care for such a blind idiot. In fact, it was so bright that it was almost blinding. Jude had to find a place to let out her emotions and chose the room she often frequented at this time of day, when the servants were mostly on the other side of their home.  
  
So when she entered her bedroom, she couldn't control herself anymore. There was no need to.  
  
 _He's so easy to control and toy with. The look on his face!_ Jude laughed to herself from just how fun it'd been to make him doubt himself. The despair he'd been trying to repress easily bust through like water through a poorly-built dam and she drank as much as she could.  
  
"Is something funny?" Martha asked, sitting on her bed in wait, hopeful of getting an answer and more. It was just like her to hope when she thought Jude wouldn't notice.  
  
"Nothing that a stupid idiot like you would understand. Martha, if I wanted you to talk, I'd tell you to talk." Jude replied.  
  
"I'm sorry." Martha quietly squeaked. It was like she didn't even listen!  
  
Jude let the silence hang over the two of them for a while. Martha barely had the brains to know to come to her sister's room rather than her own, when finished cleaning. It was a miracle that she didn't somehow sabotage them already.  
  
Her sister's incompetence didn't even give her despair most of the time. She wasn't as bad as Judith's bedroom at least; forced to be tidy and modest and perfectly pretty enough for any kind of noble girl just waiting for some lord of the shires to sweep her off her feet.  
  
The day that George Joestar died, she was going to tear this room apart.  
  
Goddamnit! If she had known that she'd have to play the demure and delicate girl for so long, she might have thought twice about this whole plan! All these years of playing dumb and acting like she gave a single shit about what this and that bitch knitted and danced and said to this and that boy. She hated having to spend hours just sitting with her thoughts at some boring-as-crap garden.  
  
Not to mention the piano and violin! Jude had lots of songs she had wanted to play on both, songs that would make people throw their hands to their ears and scream out as their eardrums burst from the disharmony. Instead, she had to use her instant recognition of the notes and play the same fucking songs over and over.  
  
She swore to God, if she had to go to another garden party and play that stupid game again, she was going to start caving heads in with the croquet bat!  
  
Martha at least got to go shooting and hunting and kill things! The most that Judith could do was 'accidentally' brain a servant with a ball when playing croquet and after that she got watched endlessly! After that, it was just knitting and playing crap like the piano and violin to entertain others.  
  
For a girl like her, the life of a noble woman was nothing short of complete boredom.  
  
And that boredom might as well have been hell for Judith Eydris.  
  
 _The sooner the old man dies, the better. Then we can move on with our lives._ Jude tried to find something to calm herself down with. The mental image of Jonathan weeping over the corpse of his father, or watching on with broken eyes as the courts blamed him for poisoning his own father, framed by yours truly, did more than enough to sate Jude's appetite.  
  
Or she would simply kill him. She hadn't decided if it'd be by an 'accident' such as with a stray croquet ball, or whether she'd have Martha take Jonathan 'deer-stalking' and then end him. Judith wanted to be there though, if she did that. She wanted to be there and watch the look in JoJo's eyes when he'd see Martha standing over him and blowing his brains out.  
  
Maybe Jude would tell him everything, before he'd die.  
  
That Despair would be nothing short of the finest wine for Judith. A perfect way to close the chapter of her life with the Joestars.  
  
Although, as much as her sister did her best to hide it, it was obvious that Jude's sister would lie to her whenever asked about how she felt about the Joestars.  
  
"Hey, Martha, did Papa Joestar hurt your feelings back there?" Jude asked, smirking. She walked over and knelt on the bed and crawled over to Martha's side. "Did he make you feel like you weren't part of the family?"  
  
"I don't care what George Joestar thinks of me." Martha said. Her voice was only a few decibels off from her usual tone.  
  
"Oh is that right?" Jude shrugged her shoulders and tilted back until she crashed on Martha's bed with her back. "Yeah, you wouldn't care what he thinks. The man who pretends to be a gentleman and then whips his kids into submission. Like you don't like the cane when it's me using it."  
  
"Not so loud."  
  
"What? Who'll hear me? The servants? You think they'll find us?" Jude only said it to bully her incompetent older sister, but the idea was rooting itself in her mind now.  
  
One of the maids had spotted them being a bit closer than usual. She had went to tell her master, thinking he'd do something about it. She was definitely right.  
  
Judith had never heard the man get so angry. The maid had all but fled the mansion in tears and probably thought it'd be the end of her career. Which was true.  
  
It was just that it was also the end of her life. Jude had Martha see to that, although she wondered if she remembered to reload the ammo on her pistol.  
  
But what if another servant spotted them now? Maybe when both were in a state of undress unlike before. Maybe they'd tell Lord Joestar and the shock would kill him, or even that they'd tell Jonathan and he'd act quick; having them thrown out or sent to jail. Even at his kindest, he'd make sure that neither of them would ever be included in the family again.  
  
Would Martha take it lying down? If Judith ordered it, she was sure that her sister would leave this room and begin murdering every last one of the occupants of this place. George Joestar would be gutted in his bed just like Dario had been.  
  
 _What about JoJo?_ Judith wondered if that was the line for Martha. For years, Jude had tried to find the one point that Martha wouldn't cross for her.  _Just imagine how it'd be to learn that Martha would betray me for a man. A man who wouldn't even love her like I do._  
  
Seven years of work would be ruined for one decision. They'd be back on the streets and forced to scavenge or flee Britain for another land. They'd have to risk starvation, thirst, poverty, sickness, and their fates being in the hands of others.  
  
The Despair was enough to make her drool.  
  
All of that could happen, if a servant were to spot them now.  
  
"No. They won't. I'm the one who decides their schedules now." Jude latched onto her sister once more to get over the disappointment. "You, Martha, on the other hand, are being a hypocrite. As if you've done a good job of hiding how much you want a certain man to stick a certain thing inside you."  
  
Her sister, who was so cold and reserved and grim to all others, blushed at that. Her cheeks were a deep red that used to only be for Jude.  
  
"I wonder if you dream about him instead now," She wrapped her arms around Martha's neck down to her chest and pulled her head to her own chest. Martha's neck rested on Jude's bosom. "The two of you, all hot and naked and sweaty, him doing you like a dog. Or maybe it's not just him. The whole damn rugby team treating you like a warm-up for their girls."  
  
"That's not what I want." Martha insisted, too quickly. Looking up at Jude, she whispered, "The only one I dream of is you."  
  
"You're a bad liar, sis. Even if you dream of sinning with me, you probably dream of marriage and being the good little wife." Said Jude, who then grinned and moved close enough that her nose and Martha's were touching. "You know he hates you. Any chance of you two being close died after you set his dog on fire."  
  
"But that was-"  
  
"I didn't put him in the furnace. And besides, you think he'd fuck a tranny? Even if you revealed the truth, he wouldn't want you. Hell, even if he did, he'd have to ditch being a gentleman. Not many of those sort like to hang around girls who get off on dressing like a boy and fucking knives and guns."  
  
Jude embraced the despair that her sister did her best to hide. The despair that came from knowing that she had severed the one connection she desired beyond the one she held with Judith. The idea that she could ever form a real bond with Jonathan had died with the dog.  
  
Yet Martha still did her best to somehow balance opening her heart to Jonathan with killing George.  
  
Some goddamn protector.  
  
But Judith could forgive her sister; for this gave her Despair rather than disappointment. Which was more than could be said for other assets.  
  
 _Those brats aren't dying fast enough._ Jude bitterly said to herself. Wang Chan told her that the poison was slow but effective, for one that came from prolonged exposure, and yet those little orphans weren't dropping off fast enough. How many more bears did she need per building?  _Even if it's just one more, I'll be fine with it. I need something though. Anything to get the blood pumping._  
  
It then struck her. Jude did have a way of passing the time and enjoying herself. She was literally sitting right in front of her.  
  
"Martha, it's time for your punishment." Hearing her cute baby sister's proclamation confused the dopey eldest. Jude mentally added further punishment for having to remind her. "I didn't ask you to talk and you still did."  
  
"But you responded to me." Martha protested.  
  
"Too bad. Come, lay over my lap. I think about fifty should do it. Or are you so damn stupid that you can't follow one basic order. And we're going bare-cheek, so I might confuse your face with your butt."  
  
Martha pouted and moaned, which made Jude add twenty-five more to the count, but she shifted her position and began to unbuckle her belt regardless. Judith swore she had the cane somewhere here after last time. Still, a part of her wanted to use her hand this time.  
  
It wasn't like the cane made Martha enjoy it any less. That was the only problem with these punishments.  
  
This was the side of Martha that only Judith knew. There were a few in London who likely remembered the name Martha Eydris, but they only knew her as the violent thug who'd take their money and break their bones. For the rest of the world there was only Marcus Cutler, a dignified if cold gentleman who had a fondness for weapons and a love for his family.  
  
But this? The Martha who squeaked and wailed and moaned and ate? That belonged to Judith. Just as only Judith was safe from being harmed by the woman who only felt at ease when discarding civilisation and getting rid of all in her way. The two of them were the only ones who understood once another.  
  
In a lot of ways, it made sense that they were twins. They were the Despair Sisters; two halves of a sensation that'd soon wreak havoc across the world.  
  
It was just that Jude was the superior half.  
  
Martha let out a gasp of pain and joy that only this room would ever hear. The doors and walls of this room could hide most of her secrets and there was no one near enough to hear it, with George dying, JoJo in his study, and the servants on their chores. No one would hear a thing.  
  
Well, no one should hear much.  
  


\---

  
"Judith, Marcus," Jonathan did his best to stay calm and not explode immediately. "Where are you going with that medicine?"  
  
Marcus stopped in his tracks. By his side, having just ascended the stairs, Judith stopped as well. She stared at Jonathan with blank eyes betraying none of her emotions. She slowly put the tray holding the medicine and a glass of water down by a nearby table. Marcus did nothing to stop her.  
  
Neither of them broke eye-contact with him.  
  
"What do you mean?" Judith asked. She looked up at him innocently, as if she wasn't possibly trying to murder his father.  
  
"Have you always given Father his medicine?" He asked, before revealing the letter he had found in the study. "Because this letter from your father, your real one, is quite curious. 'I am nearing the end. My chest hurts, my fingers are swollen, and I can't stop coughing'."  
  
Marcus raised an eyebrow besides his sister. "And?"  
  
"Those are my father's symptoms!" Jonathan snapped. He wasted no time in marching over to the plate to grab the potential poison. "I am having this medicine checked!"  
  
In the blink of an eye, Marcus caught Jonathan's wrist with his right hand and managed to stop him in his tracks. Judith did nothing whilst her older brother and Jonathan were locked in a battle of wills. Jonathan had not forgotten how terrifying either of them could become.  
  
Yet he would never get used to how much killing intent Marcus could summon in a flash.  
  
"JoJo, put down the medicine. To doubt it is to doubt our family." Marcus stared Jonathan dead in the eye. Unable to continue looking at such certainty, Jonathan shamefully averted his gaze.  
  
He knew he couldn't look someone in the eye and accuse them of something so evil. Not even Marcus and Judith, not even after all the years he had distrusted them. For one simple reason and that alone.  
  
Proof! He had to prove that these two had ill intentions. If he was to break apart this family of seven years, then he had to show good reason enough to convince not only himself but others!  
  
And that was just what he was going to do.  
  
Jonathan pulled his arm back and faced the twins once more. "Marcus, if this medicine is actually what you say it is, then swear it. Swear it on the honour of your father. Do it and I will put an end to all these questions. And I am asking this of Marcus and Marcus alone! If you do anything Jude, even a flicker of the eye, then I will know this medicine is false."  
  
 _Marcus' pride won't allow him to say it without prompting from Jude. If my hunch is correct._ Jonathan wondered briefly what he would do if he was wrong. If this was all a misunderstanding. But he could not turn back now.  
  
Not when Marcus was shaking so violently. It was as if he was ready to kill a man as he asked, "Swear? You want me to swear on it?"  
  
"Yes. Swear it on the pride of the father who loved his children so much that he begged on the streets! Who cared for them with every last bit of his life! The man you always admired and-"  
  
“I... I...!” Whatever declaration Marcus would have made died in his throat. Something flashed in his eyes, something dark and horrible. "I'VE NEVER FELT ANYTHING BUT CONTEMPT FOR THE BASTARD WHO MURDERED OUR MOTHER!" Marcus shrieked, his eyes red with rage. The pitch of his voice also jarred, having come from a man, and it was why Jonathan almost didn't notice Marcus' hands moving straight for his throat. He'd choke the life from him, if he didn't move in time.  
  
Jonathan, for the first time in his life, moved quicker than Marcus without needing restraints to help him. His right hand was swifter than Marcus' two hands and he caught both in a vice-grip. His size worked in favour for him this time.  
  
Marcus was shocked. Once again, after seven years, the unthinkable had happened and he had been caught off-guard. The man who'd never been struck or wounded was on the losing side.  
  
If he had the luxury of honour, he'd let Marcus go and warn him to leave.  
  
He did not have that luxury.  
  
Instead, Jonathan used Marcus' surprise to his advantage and slammed his free fist against Marcus' stomach, making the smaller man keel over slightly. He then grabbed Marcus by the shirt with both hands and threw him the side. Marcus did not weigh nearly as much as Jonathan, nor as much as Lord Joestar even in his sickened state.  
  
He did weigh enough, however, to smash through the wooden railings and then crash onto the ground on his back. Marcus did nothing but lie there and stare at the ceiling, which gave Jonathan the time to turn his attention to Jude.  
  
"I knew it. I knew that the two of you were planning something." Jonathan pointed a finger at the woman he once called sister. She watched with disinterest and annoyance, which only enraged him further. "Judith, I do not know why it was that you and Marcus killed your father, but I will not allow you to do the same to my own. I will tell the servants to only allow the doctors to give him his medicine and to never take their eyes off it. Meanwhile, I will get this medicine analysed and then have it checked by the police. Do not try to stop me."  
  
He kept his guard up. Who knew what Judith would do now. She could cry and attempt to win the servants over, or scream and try to claw out Jonathan's eyes, or even-  
  
"It's a shop on Ogre Street. No university will be able to study that medicine. You'll have to find out which one on your own." She said, turning to stare at Marcus' body on the floor and away from Jonathan. He could sense no lie in her voice.  
  
Which only made things more bizarre! Was there some nefarious scheme that Jude had concocted? Had Marcus simply let Jonathan beat him to lure him to this point? What was it that Jude was planning?  
  
"Finally. You've finally done it." Judith turned back to Jonathan and he wished she hadn't. Not with that large smile that showed all her teeth and reminded him more of a monster than anything. "This is it. The roll of the dice. Will you die on Ogre Street, the worst, most rotten, most polluted, and most crime-ridden street imaginable, or will you destroy seven years of work and send me to rot in jail? I can't wait, JoJo."  
  
Jude did something that astounded and mortified Jonathan.  
  
In a single leap, she went from the top of the staircase to the floor below. She landed right beside Marcus in a perfect jump. If she had been injured in some way, she showed no proof of it. Nor did she show discomfort when crouching down to whisper something into Marcus' ear.  
  
All emotion vanished from Marcus' eyes and form. He stood up, kept his back to Jonathan, and followed Judith as they walked away. If Jonathan recalled correctly, they were walking towards where Judith kept her garden.  
  
It was a beautiful sight to behold and only now did it pain Jonathan's heart. For such beauty and innocence to come from someone with such a seemingly black and vile heart.  
  
But now was not the time for such minor thoughts.  
  
 _I don't know why Judith said all that. Could she be lying?_ No. Jonathan didn't know why he was so sure that wasn't the case, other than a hunch. Yet it was that very same hunch that revealed Judith and Marcus' treachery!  
  
More importantly, he had to rescue his father. No matter the cost.  
  


\---

_  
"You stupid bitch, why did you buy medicine with the money instead of booze?"  
  
"Why the hell should I keep your mother's dress? It's not like you're gonna fill it, and at Jude's rate, she'll make it burst. So fucking sell it so I can buy booze!"  
  
"Judith! I know it was you who watered down my booze! Get out here! Martha? You're trying to fight me? Ten year old girls shouldn't be so goddamn stupid."_  
  
How long had it been since Martha had recalled the memories of all those beatings, threats, and the thick scent of booze flooding the hovel they called a house. Not a home. Never a home. Just simply a monument to Dario Eydris' poverty and the starvation and pain he made his family go through for his sins.  
  
If it hadn't been for the letter about the Joestars, saving them from a life on the streets, and Jude's own commands to do nothing, Martha would have ended Dario years ago.  
  
Everything that Martha had done. Everything she was still now prepared to do was for one purpose. That purpose was to keep Jude from ever knowing such a life again.  
  
A life of wealth and fortune could only bring happiness to a woman like Jude, if not for the same reason as most.  
  
 _"Martha, can you imagine it?" Jude whispered in her ear one night. It wouldn't be long until she had to return to her room, so Martha was happy for every moment she wanted to speak. "When George is dead, we'll be able to do whatever we want with that money and title. Will I have you go into politics and make you a puppet Prime Minister? Will we go to one of the colonies and begin a reign of terror? Or maybe we'll simple travel the world, spreading Despair wherever we go."  
  
"...I'm happy so long as I'm with you." Martha said._  
  
 _"Way to kill the mood, Martha. Urgh, you're so dumb." Jude then moved to bite Martha's neck hard. The girl bit into her pillow and wailed in delight._  
  
That had been their life just a week ago. Now? Now it had all changed. JoJo had somehow shattered their plan and there was nothing Martha could do, thanks to Jude's command to stay out of it.  
  
Instead, she and her sister roamed the streets as a macabre pair. Martha had been wearing that top-hat that had been bought with her clothes, but Jude had claimed it for herself. Which was for the best, since Martha doubted it'd have stayed on her head for long, after having drunk so much booze herself. She just didn't have her sister's coordination when it came to keeping clothing on her body.  
  
Although the booze-drinking had been at Jude's insistence.  
  
 _"I'm tired of waiting for JoJo to get back. If he's not dead, then we'll use the mask, or just accept that we lost." Jude then took a big gulp from the wine bottle in her hand. A big silly smile was pasted all over her face. "Either way, I wanna get shit-faced for the first time in my life. Fuck this lady bullshit."  
  
"Promise me, Martha."_  
  
Yes. Martha had promised that, hadn't she? She was meant to have kept her word.  
  
But she failed. Her hopes and dreams of a better life for Jude were now reliant on JoJo dying like a rat on Ogre Street. How pathetic for someone who had such pride in her combat abilities. How long ago had it been since the last rugby game?  
  
What she wouldn't give to go back to it.  
  
In an effort to get her mind off it, and to pass the time whilst Jude latched herself onto her and was doing her best to pull Martha to the gutter, Martha looked down at the booze bottle. Maybe she'd find out exactly what kind of alcohol she was-  
  
Martha looked at the label and wanted to do nothing more than shove her finger down her throat and retch the fucking poison out from her body.  
  
 _Damnit!_ Martha's eyes widened as she recognised the brand. The same brand which had a scent that haunted her childhood. Why had Judith bought this? Any booze would have been better than the brand used by Dario!  _Is this what you're telling me? That I'm no better than our bastard of a father?_  
  
"Got youuuu!" Jude shouted before softly giggling to herself. She had apparently gotten what she wanted- which was to make Martha feel a Despair she hadn't known for years.  
  
Having succeeded in that, she also seemed to give up on making Martha fall. So she decided to just make one drunken idiot chase another. Stumbling forward, Jude quickly got herself into a running pace, to which Martha did her best to follow. Anything to get her mind off the booze she refused to let go of.  
  
Jude may have been smarter and prettier than a cross-dressing wretch like Martha, but she didn't have nearly as much physical training. Regardless, she did managed to build up some speed, even as Martha closed the gap. She'd still let Jude either have her moment.  
  
It was her duty as a big sister to make her little sister feel accomplished, after all. Even if Judith had come to resent this tendency.  
  
Yet, this was not meant to be. Jude wasn't watching where she was going, or had decided to piss someone off, and ended up running into a pair of men and fell to the ground, before Martha intercepted and caught her in time.  
  
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" The shorter man spat, looking stout but certainly not fat. Martha could still kill him, however.  
  
"Oh?" Judith asked. With an amazing sense of balance for how much she'd been drinking, she found her footing and stood up, taking a step towards them. She smiled like the devil and adopted a more sultry tone, which only made Martha want to kill him more. "I'm sorry. We're just a little lost, but maybe you can help with that?"  
  
Both men- one short and stout and the other tall and lean- chuckled to themselves, clearly thinking they had stumbled on an easy woman. Martha briefly wondered if, with her disguise, someone would finally notice the woman wearing the clothes of a man. Maybe someone would connect the dots. But that'd have to be someone else.  
  
Because from the moment that Jude's eyes turned to Martha and blinked, she was on the move.  
  
The bottle in her hand was quick as a flash in crashing against the face of the shorter man and breaking against his face. His nose seemed broken and his mouth dripping dark red whilst his hands went to cover his mouth and face. Bits of glass were even embedded into his skin.  
  
Martha still had a broken bottle, however, and put it to good use. She thrust forward and stabbed into the man's chest again and again. His eyes burst with horror and only subsided as the life drained from his body and Martha continued to stab into every part of his torso.  
  
"You're gonna pay for that!" The taller thug screamed as he ran towards Jude, to which Martha's adorable and delicate little sister replied by accepting the challenge.  
  
He had pulled out a knife and began swinging it wildly. Much of his experience was obviously threatening people with it, rather than actually using it. For Jude, a woman who could analyse just about everything, it was easy to dodge his swipes and reveal the object she'd kept on her person constantly for the past three days.  
  
The Stone Mask she had stolen from JoJo's study. The very same tool she planned on using on him, if he ever returned. The mask that was then stained with blood as Martha aimed her next stab with extreme precision, making the shorter man's chest spew out droplets of blood on his friend.  
  
Jude's smiles always managed to light up Martha's day, now that they- for at least a single moment- did not have to pretend who they were anymore. "A live experiment! Let's see just what it is that made JoJo so interested all those years ago-"  
  
She stopped talking. Martha stopped stabbing. The shorter thug stopped living.  
  
As for the taller man, the mask forced on his face burst out into a bright light. It was as if they were looking into a silver sun! Jude hissed in pain and Martha gritted her teeth and shut her eyes. Using Jude's sounds, she made her way to her sister's side and only when the light abated did they check what that was.  
  
What they found a dead man with spikes going halfway across his head and piercing its spikes into it, including the cranium.  
  
Jude let out a long and frustrated groan, hopin-no, not hoping- anticipating something different. Martha didn't particularly care and only went over to take the mask from the corpse. Joining her sister's side, she let Jude take the lead and for the two to continue their walk in the early morning streets in peace.  
  
Yet why were all of her instincts screaming at her to turn back and dispose of the body? It wasn't like anyone saw what happened and, even if they did, no one knew who they were. Even if they did, Martha could just kill them.  
  
So then why did a chill suddenly crawl up her spine?  
  
"Impossible..." Jude's voice was so quiet that Martha barely heard it.  
  
Martha turned and moved by instinct. Her mind shifted and the world became nothing more than four things; the first was Judith as what Martha had to protect, the second was the tall and deathly-pale man with teeth sharp as razors who had to die, the third was Martha who had to kill this thing and protect her sister.  
  
The fourth was everything else. Irrelevant.  
  
Martha had taken a knife with her for this trip. It was a blessing that she had. It meant she had the perfect tool for first stabbing into the man's left shoulder to lower his outstretched arm. The injury allowed her to duck his wild swing, with much more speed and force in it than she expected, and then pierce it straight into his knee.  
  
What should have happened was that he'd collapse from the shock and pain and then Martha would slit his throat.  
  
What happened instead was that she tried to take the knife out and couldn't. The man chuckled darkly and straightened his leg. The impossible happened.  
  
With just flesh and bone, the man shattered the knife entirely! Martha had only sharpened it the day before! That knife could withstand far more than the usual sort and here it was, shattered by a mere man.  
  
Judith was frozen solid whilst the creature- as it couldn't have been human, not anymore- roared and pulled its fist back to strike at her. Martha grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her away. They had to get out and get out now! They were dealing with something that not even Judith understood!  
  
Martha succeeded in saving Jude from a direct strike. What she didn't save her from was the impact of the fist striking the wall behind them and shattering it into bricks.  
  
The shockwaves sent both sisters flying back. Jude crashed against one of the stones near the lake, whilst Martha landed against the chains keeping people from falling in. She let out a silent scream of pain from the sensation of the chains against her back.  
  
But there was no pain that could equal seeing that beast make its way towards her little sister.  
  
"Judith!!!" She howled like a dog and rushed like a racing hound. Trying to intercept the monster, she found herself outpaced for the first time in her life.  
  
It wasn't even a challenge for it!  
  
With the same hand that broke the wall, the monster shoved its fingers into Judith's neck. Her bright blue eyes widened and veins of some kind appeared on both the beast's hand and across Jude's neck and face! Martha recognised the way they were moving and wasted no time in pulling out her second knife.  
  
How could this thing just steal Judith's blood like that?!  
  
She did everything she could to stop the monster. She tried to sliced through its fingers, hand, and wrist, but had to avoid its irritated swats. So she moved to its chest and back. Using all her speed, she dodged its blows and worked on slashing and stabbing and clawing and biting whatever she could, and ignoring how even a single half-hearted swipe sent a burst of air slapping against her face.  
  
Yet it was useless. Nothing she did made the creature slow down in its attempted murder.  
  
 _Damnit! How is it not dying? I've sliced every major artery. I've sliced the muscles and joints. I've severed his spine!_ Martha carved and stabbed her knife into the flesh of the beast again and again. Even if it was a monster, it still had the body of a human, right?! Surely it must have some weakness?!  
  
But no! If there was a way to kill this creature, either it was impossible for Martha to find, or she'd take too long.  
  
All this while her sister- sweet and innocent and despair-haunted Judith- was being murdered in front of her. Martha was failing.  
  
"Heh...so this is it...this is how I die...to a creature from story books? And you can't do anything to stop it?" Jude looked up at her murderer with a drunken smile, only this was not the wine talking. This was the Despair rushing through her veins and intoxicating her completely talking. "This is the greatest day of my life. Kill me! Take all my blood! Turn me into a skin-bag!"  
  
"No!" Martha screamed. The sun rose next to her, but Martha didn't give a damn. Not when the light of her life, that which actually made her alive, was going to die! She continued hacking away at the beast as she screamed, "I won't live another day without you, Judith! I won't! I'll kill this thing, no matter what it takes, and then I'll drown myself in the river. I won't fail-"  
  
The monster let out a pained screech. Martha didn't understand what was happening. Did she hit a vital point in its body? Could it only take so much damage before breaking apart?  
  
Whatever it was, in a matter of seconds, this once-powerful creature that bested her had turned to a small pile of dust. A pile that Martha kicked at with no small amount of murderous glee.  
  
Minutes passed before she was sure every last trace was scattered in the air and lake. It was only then that she turned to Jude and vice versa. The two sisters looked at one another and Martha had to keep herself from throwing herself at Judith, weeping and begging forgiveness. She simply took solace in how the blood was returning to her.  
  
In the end, it was Jude who broke the silence first.  
  
"Martha...." Jude said, after minutes of deep breathing, looking up with a strange new look in her eye. "I think it's time we went home. We shouldn't keep family waiting."  
  


\---

  
Judith Eydris sat on the floor weeping in an undignified manner. All of her pretences of grace and nobility were gone now and all that was left was a pitiful woman crying in the dark. Sat on a nearby chair, his face covered by his hands, slightly damaged from how he banged the table, was 'Marcus Cutler'.  
  
Marcus said a few words, but this was Judith's show. She spoke of her guilt about all her sins, including her attempt on George Joestar's life, and of how she and her brother came home to confess. To put their sins to right.  
  
After all, if they had wanted to escape justice, why not flee overseas? Why hadn't they killed him while JoJo was gone? Why had Jude brought up the shop in the first place?  
  
It was that logic, seemingly perfect, that when combined with the good heart he held that made Jonathan Joestar slowly approach the twins in conciliation.  
  
"Be careful, Mister Joestar," Robert E.O. Speedwagon light the match in his hand and illuminated the room. He looked at the twins without hesitation. "Don't believe their lies. Especially be wary of the lies of Judith Eydris. For her, to fake her tears and speak lies as if they were truth comes to her as naturally as breathing."  
  
Marcus sharply gasped and looked up to the interloper who made his presence known. Both girls in fact stood up and turned their heads to him; the ever-interfering crook who couldn't stand to see these two try to worm their way out of justice.  
  
There was already too much darkness in the room without these two trying to muddy the waters of truth.  
  
"I bet you're wondering just who I am." He asked.  
  
"Robbie Speedwagon." Judith replied, taking Speedwagon by surprise. "I remember you from Ogre Street. So easy to make cry."  
  
He ignored that comment. Any other day and he'd gladly pick a fight with her, but not now. Not when a man like Mister Joestar was in danger of being manipulated. He turned to him with a coy smile.  
  
"Jonathan, you have a kind heart. When you see a woman cry, you go to comfort her, even when she has tormented you so. But take it from me," He moved closer to the twins and the smile on his faces became a glare. "I can smell a bad person from a good person; the talent I have developed after years of living in some of the worst places you can think, and I can say without a doubt that these two have the worst stench I have ever smelt!"  
  
"I told you to bathe more." Jude said. To insult her sister and appear so carefree! It was as if she didn't even care, now that her traps had been disarmed.  
  
But Speedwagon wouldn't let her pretend she had even an ounce of control left. Justice would come this day!  
  
"These two were born evil! You may find it hard to believe, but ask anyone from Ogre Street and they'll say the same. I remember a time when I had just arrived on Ogre Street," Speedwagon thought back to those days of his childhood. The story had haunted him even now. "There was a girl who built a sandcastle so huge and intricate that it was easily a small replica of the great fortresses of old! In fact, I remember it being a near-exact copy of the Taj Mahal! It was without a doubt one of the few pearls of Ogre Street. Until, one day, it had been destroyed! Some cruel villain had taken that little girl's work and stomped all over it. All that girl could do was weep bitterly over the ruins of weeks of hard work. Scratched hands covered her face whole!  
  
"Her older sister searched high and low for the culprit." Speedwagon had to stop for a moment. The memories of those days even now chilled his heart and gave him goosebumps. "I had never seen such violence before. From a child no less! Grown men had their bones jutting from their flesh! Children were left broken wrecks! The innocent were left scarred! All the while no one could solve the mystery. All but one witness to the crime! And that boy could never reveal the secret!  
  
He pointed a finger right at Judith's face. "Because the culprit was the girl herself! All that effort and pain that went into her work. The blood, sweat, and tears, all had existed for only one purpose!" The culprit looked at him with disinterested eyes, raising a hand to keep her human-pit-bull from striking. "So that she could destroy it and incite her sister to go on a blood-soaked rampage! None would be safe and she could watch the suffering for herself. All while that girl could rob their bodies for money. That girl, eight years later, is the one sitting before you and is trying a similar trick for the fortune of a lifetime and the witness is the man who is beside you right now, Mister Joestar!  
  
"That is who Jude is! A woman who feeds on suffering the way a parasite does on the host! So twisted that she does not know of love and kindness but only of torment and sorrow, especially the type she sows. Her sister is almost as bad! Where is your morality? Where is your heart? Did you trade it away with your soul on the day you were born, all in service for your sister? But I say enough. This ends tonight. Tell us, do you recognise this man, Jude?!"  
  
Speedwagon pulled down the curtain and revealed the executors of justice. The police had been waiting in secret for when these twins would come home and possibly make an attempt on JoJo or George's life! There were more than enough armed policemen to face down even Martha.  
  
Only two men, however, captured everyone's attention.  
  
The first was the tiny man from China whose black heart had made him sell poison to children long ago, and then sell it again to them to take the life of an honourable man. He smirked at Judith, who returned it with full-force.  
  
However, Martha's attention was aimed entirely at the man standing by the police. He was wrapped in warm clothing and blankets. Despite already being on the mend, his weak posture and greyed hair was not because of merely age or poison.  
  
No...it was heartbreak! Heartbreak at what these two had done and were planning to do! Heartbreak of seven years of memories turned to nothing but ash!  
  
"Judith, Marcus, I heard everything." George Joestar, a man who deserved better, spoke gently to his adopted children even now.  
  
"This man who ran the shop where you bought your poison will confess to everything, Judith, Marcus." Jonathan said. His face paled, however, and he turned to Speedwagon yet again. "W-Wait! Sister?! You said sister?! There's a third sibling?"  
  
"No. There is no third sibling." He replied, shaking his head. It was now Martha's turn to face his interrogation. "Only the elder sister who reeks of vomit! The one who does not blink to kill cat, dog, child, or man! The one who has never been struck in any fight, so long as I can remember! The one who has disguised herself as a man for the past seven years so as to attain the Joestar fortune for herself and her sister! Martha Cutler!"  
  
The room filled with amazement. More than a few policeman openly gasped in shock, and the look on Jonathan's face was that of a man unable to comprehend what he had heard, but only now seeing the reality for what it was. Speedwagon might have felt completely righteous about revealing the secret.  
  
Until he saw the look on George's face. That stricken and mortified look of a man who was now questioning his own worth as a father.  
  
"Speedwagon..." Martha growled. She was the polar opposite of Jude; the latter showing boredom and barely giving him mind, whilst the former would only need the command to fight to her last breath.  
  
That was something to watch out for.  
  
"Please," George said. Whatever strength was in his voice had now vanished as he turned his back on his attempted killers. "I wish to go back to bed. I did not wish to see my children arrested before, but now...I do not wish to see them any further today. Not after learning of the extent of their deception."  
  
"You turn your back on us?! You think this is the end?!" Martha snapped. In a flash, she put her hand to a back pocket and revealed a handgun of her own. She pointed it at the police and they returned the favour. "You should have checked the garden shed the second you arrived here. You think Jude was the only one who hid secrets? I kept a gun stored there for this day. I'll kill all of you and steal what I can for Judith and-"  
  
"Martha. Put down the gun." Jude said. For a few moments, Martha did no such thing and merely look at her sister in confusion. This was the wrong answer, as it seemed to anger Jude. "I said do it, you dumb bitch!"  
  
Jude pulled her right hand back and then slapped Martha in the face. With a loud crack, and a soft cry, Martha collapsed to the ground and held her red cheek. Soon enough, the other cheek matched it in colour.  
  
The embarrassment of being beaten in front of strangers! Did Judith's cruelty extend to even her sister?!  
  
"Speedwagon, you've got that wrong!" She shouted, jabbing a finger at his direction. "That sandcastle. I didn't build it as some elaborate scheme to make money. If I wanted money, I could have had this kill-happy whore do it." She explained. The tip of her boot budged roughly against Martha's left side before she focused on everyone else again. "The reason I built that sandcastle is because I wanted it to suffer the same fate as all sandcastles."  
  
Jonathan was apparently the first to realise it. "You mean-"  
  
"I wanted someone to break it. To take all my hard work and effort and turn it to nothing." Jude's boredom had vanished. Instead, there was a sick and twisted grin on her face as she held herself in her own arms. "In the end, to feel that Despair, I had to do it myself. It felt amazing. The way the sand collapsed and reduced me to a coughing fit. And then to watch Martha tear through Ogre Street, then be reduced to tears herself from her failure?! It was amazing."  
  
Whatever image there had been of Judith Eydris the noblewoman, it was now dead and gone. How could it last when looking upon the salivating and ecstatic face of a woman describing how she sabotaged her own creation. How she then sicced her sister on the innocent for her own amusement?!  
  
Speedwagon had to summon all his willpower to not move in, for Jude's attention shifted to George Joestar himself.  
  
"Papa! Do you know something else?" She asked. Speedwagon cursed her for trying to torment the man who only wished to be a father to her. What did she plan now?! "Should I tell you about how I told Martha to burn Danny alive? No, that's obvious now. Oh, maybe I can tell you about what's really in those bears I've given the children all these months. Ah, all those expressions those happy little faces would make when I told them the truth on their death-beds. Nah, too distant."  
  
Martha stuttered and looked up at Judith, who grabbed her by the hair and yanked her upwards. "J-Jude, wait-"  
  
"I've got it!" Jude declared. She put a hand on Martha's collar and grinned, turning her attention between George and Jonathan. "How about this?!"  
  
Jude pulled down her collar and wiped her hand over Martha's neck and collarbone. What she revealed, under the illusion of fair skin, was a collection of red marks that littered her body. Their pattern...it was that of a collar! It was like Judith had been working to slowly bind her sister to herself.  
  
Martha mewled out a protest, to which Judith replied by striking her once more. Yet this time it was on her bottom! Once more, Martha blushed and yelped from the shock, but did nothing to stop her sister from abusing her again. Judith was caught in her own world now, spitting foul words and cruel insults whilst her sister embraced it all.  
  
The terrifying, cruel, but still proud warrior from Speedwagon's childhood had been replaced by a mewling kitten. No- an abused whore. So broken and mistreated that she knew nothing better. That could be the only reason that she seemed to almost embrace and welcome the beatings and verbal abuse!  
  
Speedwagon felt vomit rise up his throat and had to swallow it down. The police were frozen stiff from shock and horror. Jonathan seemed to be fighting to not look away from this evil, whilst George understandably did not have this strength. He looked away and Speedwagon said nothing more. Jonathan's father did not need to have his tears remarked upon.  
  
But when George collapsed, holding the place where his heart shattered into a million piece, and Jude then stopped her toying with Martha...just to laugh! That was when Speedwagon had to step in.  
  
"Even Speedwagon is disgusted!" He cried out, pointing a shaking finger at them. Jude merely winked in reply. "To think that the two of you, not content with tormenting the Joestars and all around you, would defy one of the most sacred taboos!"  
  
Martha's previous whimpering was gone in an instant. She now had returned to her previous look, one of burning hatred and a desire to run over and tear out his throat with her fingers alone. For all her attempts at seeming without emotion, the intent and desire to kill was plain as day. Speedwagon prepared himself, as did JoJo and the entire police force assembled here.  
  
Strangely, it was Jude who was the peacemaker.  
  
With a single outstretched hand placed in front of her, Martha's bloodlust seemingly vanished in an instant. Only a fool would believe it truly gone, however. Just as surely only a fool would think that it was only Judith who was mad.  
  
Perhaps there was even a twisted logic inside her. At the least some strange and warped morality. That was the only explanation as to why she would walk up to Jonathan with an emotionless expression and offer up her wrists.  
  
"JoJo, I'm done." Jude said. How could she even dare say that?! She had broken her father's spirit and was treating it as if she was buying groceries. "I want you to cuff me. I want you to be the one to put an end to my plans. Do that and I won't resist these coppers."  
  
"Right." Jonathan nodded and took two sets of handcuffs from the officers. His stoicism right now was an inspiration to Speedwagon.  
  
"These past seven years...you honestly surprised me." Jude had lost her former energy. This was something calmer, yet Speedwagon would never call it placid. "I've had to spend so long hiding it, but unable to get rid of it. This power of mine." She said "Whenever I read a sheet of music, I would instantly master it. I would test myself on the mathematics and science questions that had you and Martha confused and solved it in a second. I could meet a person and accurately predict their response to whatever I'd say. My mother's death was obvious, down to the time and date, and even my father's drunken abuses were predictable."  
  
"So life became meaningless? You had no hope that goodness would save you?" Jonathan asked. He seemed as confused as Speedwagon, George Joestar, and the police.  
  
"Hope?" Jude spat the word as if it were the poison she'd been feeding her adopted father. Jonathan was taken aback. "I can predict your Hope. Hope is the reason this world is as boring as it is. Hope is my enemy, JoJo. But do you know my salvation? Do you know what it truly is that makes me feel  _alive_?"  
  
Jude's smile return, this time reaching to her ears and revealing her perfect teeth. "Despair." She whispered. If she saw the word Hope as poison, then she had clearly treated the worse Despair as if it were the name of God himself. "Despair is when you have been driven to the brink! Despair is amazing, JoJo. It's a tornado, an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, and more. It's unpredictable in its devastation. It's the gift I've given to your father and it's the gift I wanted to offer to you. It is the very thing that shatters the harmony and brings forth chaos. It is the liberation I seek! I need Despair and I need more and more of it!  
  
Judith then sighed and shook her head, "But I can only do so much as a human. If my plans fail, I'm stuck in this boring world. But even if I had succeeded, I'd have been stuck on a loop. I'd have reached a point where I could go no further. I'd just be trapped in a world of humans who will act according to plan. Until now! Even I have fell victim to your will and drive that has overcome my previous plans. But that's just it! I don't have to abide by the restrictions of humanity anymore, JoJo. I can ascend to a Despair the likes of which you've never known! So do you understand, JoJo?!"  
  
Jude tore apart a piece of her dress in her swiftness to pull out the knife and a stone mask in her hands. A long ripping noise cut through the tension and all eyes fell on her.  
  
This must have been her true face. The way her eyes shook and almost swirled frantically, the soft and unsteady laughs coming from her, and the sheer hunger and lust within her entire form. Speedwagon would have fled the room retching from the foul scent of her madness long ago were it not for his loyalty.  
  
Yet he could not deny the fear he felt when listening to the witch's cackle.  
  
"I'm embracing the Despair of inhumanity!!!" She cried out at the top of her voice and thrust the knife forward.  
  
"The Stone Mask?!" Jonathan asked.  
  
"Judith! Stop!" Martha screamed.  
  
"Look out!" That was all Speedwagon could say as Jude pushed her knife forward. It was shameful, but he had no time to react and save his friend!  
  
But someone else did. The one man Speedwagon imagined Jonathan only thought would in his worst nightmares.  
  
George Joestar spat blood as Jude's knife sank deep into his back. Jonathan watched on in horror as Jude heartlessly pulled the knife from his flesh and let out a howl of agony. Martha herself was shoved aside and whimpered. But not for the man who had taken them in and offered them a better life!  
  
No, she merely cried for Jude, for reasons Speedwagon neither understood nor wanted to understand.  
  
Laughing madly, Jude smeared the knife against the mask and slammed it against her face. She was pushed back by her own force.  
  
That was the last thing Speedwagon saw before the light blinded him. It was as if a piece of the sun had been stolen and revealed in this very room. White and blue and silver and all sorts of colours pierced his eyes and made him close them. JoJo was more concerned with holding his father and avoided a direct hit.  
  
Speedwagon could hear the police reacting first. A series of pistol shots sang through the air and he was sure that most of them made their mark and went through Jude's body. The sound of glass breaking and the storm outside becoming much louder told him the rest. After being riddled with bullets, Judith Eydris fell from the window and died! Whatever she'd been planning with that distraction must have failed! Speedwagon was sure of it!  
  
But why was Martha only screaming?  
  
For all her evil, and for all her sins, she loved and worshipped her sister as if she were a god. She screamed and howled in agony, but Speedwagon couldn't hear her voice growing distant or louder, meaning she hadn't moved.  
  
She had not moved to rush over and leap out the window to try and save her sister. She did not try to run over and kill as many of the men who killed Jude as possible. But there was something else that concerned him.  
  
Martha did nothing to throw herself in the way to take the bullets for her sister's sake.  
  
But Judith must have been dead! No human could survive so many bullets to the chest! Speedwagon was sure of it! And he definitely heard something jut out from the mask! It must have been suicide! The girl who professed to love Despair as her salvation, and expressed such discontent with her life, had chosen to end it rather than spend her days in a cell!  
  
It made perfect sense. It could be the only reason! Driven to desperation, she followed the actions of those she tormented and embraced her fate of burning in the fires of Hell itself!  
  
So why did it feel as if Jude had just won?


	3. Hello, Goodbye

**Arc One: Phantom Ronpa  
Chapter Three: Hello, Goodbye**

\---

_“What manner of man is this, or what manner of creature is it in the semblance of man?”_

-Bram Stroker,  _Dracula_

\---

  
Speedwagon wondered if this victory was supposed to taste so bitter.  
  
"Father...I should have been able to dodge that knife. Jude was not like Marc-" Jonathan stopped at that moment, not least because of the sorrow choking his throat. He let the tears run down his face. "It was the mask. If I hadn't let myself get distracted...I might have-"  
  
George Joestar, however, shook his head and offered the warmest smile that Speedwagon had ever seen a dying man give. He moved his hand and showed a beautiful jewelled ring to his son. "JoJo...take it. Your mother's ring."  
  
"Father!" Jonathan cried out. He had known what the knife wound meant, but now he had been forced to confront it; the horrible truth.  
  
"Curses. The knife took him in the vitals." Speedwagon said. Jude's grip was the only true thing about her in life. It was why, other than a despondent Martha kneeling on the floor and staring at the window, no one mourned her. "In her last moments, she had to make one last attempt at destroying the family that took her in. Even though I was here!"  
  
"Lord Joestar, this is all my fault! If only I had taken him in!" The officer in charge of his peers cried out.  
  
And so the officer told his story. Of how a young copper had arrested a foul criminal who had tried to fence a ring far too valuable for him to have attained by honest means. How he had locked him in the cell and called Lord Joestar himself to collect the ring, after having forced the confession from the criminal. Dario Eydris had a slight reputation, and this would have been his downfall.  
  
The officer should have lied about his identity.  
  
For Lord George Joestar had a kind heart! He thought Dario was the man who saved him, rather than a scoundrel who tried to rob his corpse! George had hope in his fellow man and told the officer to release Dario; that he might have done the same were he trapped in poverty.  
  
He even gave Dario his own ring to sell, in exchange for Lady Joestar's, and asked him to live an honest life from now on.  
  
But instead, the criminal continued his evil ways, and when he died his offspring would go to the Joestar mansion and begin the chain of events leading to this tragedy! How cruel fate could be!  
  
"You...you could have arrested him," Martha whispered. Somehow, her voice was heard over the storm, as she turned to face the men who slew her sister. "All these years and he could have been in jail...Away from us, and maybe even away from-" She stopped talking and looked to the ground, glaring with so much force that Speedwagon feared it would ignite it. "You-"  
  
"Enough! Have you not aided evil enough in your lifetime?!" Jonathan roared, protecting his father's honour to the end. Yet even that anger was overcome by grief. "At least let him have his final words." He said, as George once again put a hand on his cheek, using all his might.  
  
"JoJo, I know how you must feel. I know that the sight of their- their sins must have been sickening, but please," He asked. "Do not hold a grudge against them."  
  
Jonathan gasped, as did Speedwagon. "What?"  
  
"This might have been my fault." Lord Joestar said. "I was always strict with you, but perhaps I still made them feel as if they were not a part of our family. Had I been more attentive, perhaps I might have realised how alone and broken Judith was. How reliant the two had become on each other. If she truly had the power she did, then maybe her lust for suffering was...at the very least, I might have realised the sins under my roof and stopped it. Found a way to fix the two of them and give them happy lives.  
  
"Maybe if they felt as if they were not alone in this world. Maybe if they felt that they were not all they had left...this tragedy could have been avoided." Lord Joestar turned towards the open window. "Bury Judith next to her father, or even her mother, if she has a grave of her own. Her sister too, if the death penalty is handed down. I can only hope that instead she has the chance to redeem herself."  
  
"Father..." Jonathan moved his hands to take his father's and hold them. The final moments between father and son; it was enough to break Speedwagon's heart!  
  
Yet Lord Joestar somehow found the strength to stay firm and give his son one last smile before the end.  
  
"You know, JoJo, there are worse ways to die than in the arms of one's son...especially a son who has done me proud like you." He said. With that final word, Lord George Joestar's strength faded, his head dipped, and his hands fell away from Jonathan's.  
  
As the lightning outside struck, its electrifying sound was matched by dozens of men, including Speedwagon, all crying out for Lord Joestar in mourning.  
  
The same officer who told his story shook and was doing his best to hold back his own tears. "To think that such kindness would be rewarded like this," He turned to Martha with fury and desperation. "Is your sister happy?! Even when dying, she has robbed away that pure heart from this world forever." He shouted.  
  
"No! That's wrong!" Speedwagon shouted. He was all for punishing Martha and condemning Jude, but not at the cost of denying Lord Joestar's legacy! He pointed to proof of it; the sight of Jonathan holding his father and crying, but still looking up! Still having that same spirit live on inside him. "Look! It has not been taken away. For all of Judith's madness and torment, she was never able to break him! She admitted it herself! Her despair and evil was defeated this night by his efforts! And now Jonathan has inherited that spirit. It will be his unbending will, pride, and his future. He will be a beacon of hope for all who see him and no despair of Jude's will ever extinguish it!"  
  
Speedwagon took a moment to wipe at his own eyes. To think that a hardened thug like him would weep over the death of a lord! He'd be the laughing stock of Ogre Street if someone saw him now.  
  
And, strangest of all, he didn't give a damn.  
  
"I normally hate the kind of fellows who cry at trouble. But look at me now! Father and son may be sops, but they stand by their deeds!" He gave Martha nothing more than a brief look of scorn. No more than she deserved. "If that's the kind of man you scorn, Martha, then I'll be glad to never be a man you admire."  
  
Speedwagon then turned fully towards the window. He didn't appreciate the blast of cold wind against his face much, but still pushed on. There was something more important at stake here, than a mere question of short-term discomfort! He had to see Jude's corpse to assure himself that this nightmare was over.  
  
 _I wonder what she'd think of this. To know that, in the end, she had been defeat-_ Speedwagon's thoughts came to a stop. He began to stutter in fear, his eyes went wide-open, and the first thing he noticed other than the obvious was that tattered flowers littered the ground. But there was something more important than that!  
  
"J-Jude's corpse! Judith Eydris' corpse is gone!" Speedwagon cried out. He turned and walked quickly towards the entrance of the room. "Officer, we need to barricade the windows! She might have gone to that garden shed to find-"  
  
It was a strange sound. There was a crunch that echoed across the room, but it was also as if something was splashing about. As if it was spewing this thick water everywhere. Speedwagon span his head around and barely avoided a large ball hurtling straight for him.  
  
That was when the water hit his face. It was so unlike water, however, with the heavy texture and the scent of icon. Speedwagon had to put his finger on one of the splatters just to see what it was.  
  
The terrible truth came out.  
  
 _It's blood! Blood from the officer's head!_ The headless corpse in front of him spat out what might have been a fountain's worth of blood before it collapsed.  
  
Behind it was a woman in a drenched and somewhat torn purple dress stained in red. Delicate hands were in her hair, holding bundles of strawberry-blonde hair, and she seemed to have been tying pieces of cloth around it. She didn't even move beyond a single step forward. All she needed to do was look at them and smile.  
  
That smile that held endless joy and yet no love.  
  
Speedwagon could not move for he did not even know what was happening. Was this just a nightmare?! None of the police could react for they were trapped in a state of absolute fright. How could this woman have survived all those shots?!  
  
Martha, however, knelt there and just looked at the woman. She did not blink and she did not scream. An eternity of nothing seemed to pass.  
  
Then she blushed and averted her gaze, "Judith..." She whispered, almost sensually.  
  
"Wrryyyyy." Judith merely replied. As she put her hands down from her hair, Speedwagon realised that she had tied it into twintails, as if she was a mere child! Yet children could not make a mist waft out from their mouths like that in the summer night!  
  
"Impossible! We filled you with lead!" One of the policeman screamed.  
  
Jonathan, having stood up, carried his father to a safer place and gently placed his body down. His duty finished, he rushed to one of the policemen's side and took a pistol for himself. "Judith! Don't take another step!"  
  
"Put down the gun, JoJo!" Martha screamed. Standing tall compared to before, she aimed her gun right at Jonathan's own. Speedwagon somehow knew that, if she took the shot, it'd hit its mark. "I won't let you-"  
  
"Martha." That single word, so warm and caring, froze the room solid. Jude reached out a hand and stroked Martha's messy hair.  
  
No one moved an inch. This was a crisis! The worst-case scenario had happened! Jude somehow survived all those bullets and now she and Martha were going to fight to the end! If the police didn't shoot now, this was going to become a blood-bath like none other. Speedwagon had to inspire them.  
  
But how could he, when he too was unable to move because of his own cowardice?  
  
Judith, however, changed. Where there was once a kind smile, now there was a cruel snarl that put the fear of god into Martha.  
  
"Stay out of my fucking business!" She gripped onto Martha's hair and twisted her body into a spin.  
  
She threw Martha as if she was a shot-putt. The terror of Ogre Street flew through the hole in the windows and rocketed through the sky and almost out of sight. If Speedwagon had to guess, she had landed face-first just outside of the garden.  
  
Meanwhile, Jude began to stroke at her body with her hands. She shuddered in delight as she wrapped herself in her own affection. Speedwagon wondered how she could even do that, when her body was so cold, but had to keep focus. Jude had begun walking towards JoJo.  
  
Jonathan should have fired but could not. Whether it was from fear or lingering familial bond, it couldn't be helped.  
  
Speedwagon was the one to fire his pistol instead. The bullet went straight through Jude's forehead and struck the wall behind her. A perfect hit!  
  
But yet she still lived?! Jude had suffered an injury that was meant to kill any man, if not any living creature in this world, and merely chuckled in reply. She once again raised a hand to her head, but this time stopped and touched the hole in her head with her left index finger. Moving it down, she began to gently trail that very finger over her lips.  
  
It was as if she was putting on the lipstick of hell! Her own blood stuck to her lips and gave them a darker-red colour, whilst Jude then plunged her finger into her mouth and sucked on it. She was tasting her own blood the way connoisseurs tasted wine!  
  
"Impossible! A direct shot to the head and she's still walking?!" Speedwagon couldn't believe it. Was he in a nightmare? That had to be it, right? "I don't understand...how could this be?!"  
  
"JoJo!" Jude shouted, not even paying the slightest attention to Speedwagon. He was nothing more than a nuisance in her way, after all. "That mask of yours has given it to me! The power to do whatever I want! The power to bring despair like none other! And all because of your father's blood!"  
  
Jude reached out her hand towards one of the policemen. Speedwagon had feared that she'd throw him like she had her own sister and was somehow able to be more mortified than before.  
  
Her fingers plunged into the man's skull! With barely any effort, the smallest person in the room lifted him up high and all the copper could do was scream. Scream as his whole body began to shrink and shrivel before their eyes. Speedwagon would never forget how the life died in that man's eyes.  
  
"Wrrryyyy!!!!" Her high-pitched scream pierced into Speedwagon's ears. It was the sound of pain and suffering and all that was wrong in the world.  
  
How Jonathan could stand hearing it, he would never know. "Is she feeding on that man's blood?" JoJo asked. "What have you become, Judith?"  
  
The rest of the police, however, joined Speedwagon in pulling out their guns and aiming straight for Jude. She could laugh all she liked! They'd fill her up with lead yet!  
  
Too foolish. Speedwagon hadn't realised just what it was he was fighting.  
  
With a wave of her hand, Jude threw the corpse of her victim straight them. His back slammed against the chest of one man, his arm against another, and Speedwagon was a forced-spectator to half a dozen men being torn to shreds! Bones broke and flesh was ripped from their bodies!  
  
Speedwagon didn't even have the time to dodge. He felt a piece of arm strike him in the chest, knocking the wind and no small amount of blood out from him, and a piece of leg crashing against his left arm. He screamed from the pain and wondered if it had been broken.  
  
He collapsed to the ground. Jude had somehow defeated him with but a corpse and a good aim.  
  
Looking up at her, he briefly wondered if she had ever been human. Maybe she was truly the devil in disguise. No one else could be so happy when looking upon such meaningless suffering and pain. The only one left to fight her was Jonathan, who was whispering to himself.  
  
"Of course...the mask's spikes...my research...those new powers...you're no longer human, Judith!" Jonathan's whisper became a shout that washed over the room. Yet, in response to his declaration, Judith Eydris merely laughed.  
  
"Upupupupupupu."  
  
 _No longer human?!_ Speedwagon wondered if Jude had ever truly been human. But this was different now!  _Before, the enabler to her madness was her sister, using her boundless skill and might! But now...Judith was able to cast her sister aside as if she was nothing! She had attained a strength and power beyond the human limit!_  
  
Jonathan looked at the corpse of his father before walking towards a nearby stand holding a knight's armour. As Speedwagon laid on the floor, cursing his uselessness, he tried to at least do what he could to save his friend.  
  
"Stop! JoJo, you've got no chance!" Speedwagon begged. He could just lay there and allow Judith to extinguish another hope like that! How many more good men would have to die at her hand? "I've never seen such inhuman might! It's in the hands of a woman like Judith; one who only knows of meaning in the suffering of others! Save yourself while you still can!"  
  
If Jonathan was listening to his advice, he was doing a poor job of it. He wrenched the spear out from the knight's grip and turned to face him. "Speedwagon, I am afraid too." He said softly, before returning his attention to the monster that haunted them. "But you, Jude, do not belong in this world! I am the reason you still walk this earth and I will make it right. Your reign of despair shall end before it begins!"  
  
"JoJo, don't think I didn't hear what Speedwagon said earlier. That you were a beacon of Hope who'd inspire others. A beacon that my despair would never extinguish. I heard that, JoJo, and do you know what I think?" Jude's grin at that moment would forever be a presence in Speedwagon's nightmares. "Challenge accepted!!!"  
  
Like a cheetah to its prey, Jude pounced and Jonathan replied by thrusting his spear forwards! The battle between good and evil had begun!  
  
As for Speedwagon, he heard a strange sound that resembled moving flesh and a soft groan. Impossible! Had someone survived Judith's onslaught?  
  
His hopes turned to ash when he looked over and found a pale-grey corpse with teeth sharper than a canine and a clear hunger in those demonic eyes. Somehow, it had revived after death like Jude had done, and now wished to feast on the living.  
  
Speedwagon too was in the fight for his life.  
  


\---

  
Jonathan knew he would never fully forgive himself for fleeing to the rooftops. Not for any false bravado or shame at retreating this far. To be tactical when facing a stronger enemy was to be wise. Yet he still felt sorrow for having to leave his father's corpse to burn alongside their home.  
  
 _Father, I know you'll forgive me. But still..._ Jonathan's heart constricted at the thought of not even getting to bury him. However, it was a price he accepted to make sure Jude did not survive this night.  
  
He was lucky that she seemed more concerned with destroying much of the mansion, from the library to her bedroom to even the gardens, so soon after discarding her humanity.  
  
 _"JoJo! I cannot thank you enough!" Behind the curtain, he could hear Jude's arm tear through the walls and foundations of the Joestar mansion. "If only you hadn't already sent the servants away. That'd have made this all better! Every time I smash one of these walls, or besmirch a painting, I feel my heart soaring! Some of these I chose myself! Others I wished to defile in my most dire moments of boredom! But I want to thank you personally! So show yourself!"_  
  
He wondered just how much of her real self was being revealed by her transformation.  
  
She had laughed as loud and smiled as much when being caught in Jonathan's trap, setting her aflame, as she had when she broke his spear and the spearpoint had been driven into his left shoulder. It had already been fractured from the twisted metal already.  
  
Her strength was unreal. He knew better than to think that the flames would end her. Her healing factor already outpaced the inferno and she had chosen destruction over him as her priority. It at least gave him the time to get Speedwagon out of there with his top-hat included. Jonathan had a feeling his friend would need that weapon, if worse came to worse and he'd need every second.  
  
Now all he had to do was wait for Judith to arrive.  
  
The soft sound of feet landing on the rooftop made Jonathan think Jude had chosen to adopt stealth. Yet, when he focused on his opponent, just ahead of where he had planned to strike her down, he saw a woman with unkempt black hair, a mad look in her eye, blood oozing down from her head forming a red mask, and a gun in hand.  
  
"JoJo, I cannot let you hurt my sister! I will stop you here and now and we can go on our separate paths." Marcus- he meant Martha- said. The grip on her pistol was uneasy but true enough. She raised it towards his chest. "So stay still and-"  
  
It happened too quickly. As the lightning flashed, one moment Martha had her gun trained at him, and the next she threw her right wrist down and narrowly dodged a certain piece of headwear. Her eyes followed the bladed hat and shot a glare down at its user; the man who had taken advantage of her desperation.  
  
"Your reflexes have slowed, Martha." Speedwagon said crying out from the ground below. He had no weapons on him now, but still jabbed a finger at Martha's face. "Payback for the scar you gave me all those years ago!"  
  
"Speedwagon!" Marcus- Martha howled. Her attention shifted to the intruder and Jonathan readied to take the chance to remove the pistol.  
  
An arm burst out from below. Grasping the nearby tiles, it was followed by another arm, a head, a body, and then the entire form of Judith Eydris burst out. It was as if she emerged from the flames of hell itself.  
  
"Martha, when I tell you to stay out of my fucking business," Jude growled, before gripping Martha by the back of her neck and reeling that same arm back. "That means fuck off!"  
  
Jude moved her body in a circle, reeled her arm back, and threw Martha into the air once more. She aimed too high for Jonathan to reach and grab Martha, forcing him to watch as Judith cast her own sister far from them and into a nearby forest. If the force of the throw didn't kill her, then surely the impact would!  
  
He had no time to curse or mourn, however, as Jude was already moving onto her next elder sibling.  
  
"And now for you, JoJo!" She span herself into a spinning kick. It reminded Jonathan of Marcus own attack seven years back, only this was less coordinated but much more powerful. "Die! Die for the sake of my Despair!"  
  
Jonathan had to move quickly. He held back a cry of anguish when pulling the spear out from his shoulder and throwing it against Jude's incoming foot. The heeled boot crashed against the blade and Jonathan felt as if it was a war-axe rather than a limb. He felt himself be blown away from the force of the blow.  
  
He stumbled and fell to his knees. Jude entertained herself by ripping off parts of her corsets and petticoats. The layers that protected her dignity were stripped away, as her body shook as embracing the finest delights, whilst Jonathan had to regain his senses and find something.  
  
Was there truly no way to defeat her?!  
  
Just then! Just at that very moment! Jonathan's childhood flashed before his eyes.  
  
He remembered first having Danny and the two of them fighting until the incident on the river, after which Jonathan found his true first friend. He remembered his idyllic boyhood where he would play for hours on end, and even met Erina for the first time.  
  
He then remembered meeting the twins. The humiliation at home and among his peers. He remembered Erina leaving him that basket and the day they had together, filled with fun and warmth, ending with carving their initials on the tree. He then remembered confronting Judith and Marcus for dishonouring Erina.  
  
Yet he also remembered learning rugby alongside his brother. He remembered escorting Judith to balls and applauding her talent with the piano and violin. He remembered winning the cup at school and tending to his ill father. Then, finally, he remembered learning the truth of Dario Eydris' death and the events leading up to now.  
  
His memory was interrupted by the roar of the fire. One of the nearby windows burst and flames licked the air outside, only to be doused by the rain, but Jonathan knew what it truly meant.  
  
He had to get Jude back into the mansion; it was the only way he could stop her.  
  
"Jude, my whole childhood for good and for ill was spent with you and Martha, even if I didn't know her as a woman." He said, slowly standing up until he was at full height. He looked Jude in the eye from across the rooftop and shouted, "So let us settle this here and now. Let us have a show of raw strength! Do not avoid my charge or try to weaken me! Just show me your strength against mine and we'll see you the victor is! Well, Judith, do you accept?! Or do you not wish to gamble."  
  
"JoJo, I know exactly what you're planning." Jude's sudden change to stoicism along with her reply made Jonathan's heart stop. Then she laughed uproariously. "So it'll be all the juicier when I stop you in your tracks and you die in despair! Come at me, JoJo. Come at me hard and quick! But don't think I'll let you in so easy!"  
  
Jonathan did as he was asked and charged ahead. He used his good shoulder to lead the assault as Jude puffed out her chest and grinned madly. He knew the risks that'd come. Knowing Jude's inhuman strength now, he guessed the impact of his charge would break his shoulder.  
  
 _Then I'll have to accept that as the price to pay! The price to stop you from spreading your evil any further, Jude!_ Jonathan kept this vow in mind as he charged forward without any sign of restrain or slowing.  
  
Yet when he struck, he aimed slightly lower than where he'd been charging. He could not risk losing a battle of strength and knew Jude had no experience of grappling and had never watched them play rugby. Even if she was as smart as she claimed, she'd still need time.  
  
So when Jonathan hit, he still felt his right shoulder break, but he was sure now that he was pushing Jude forward and through the window. The cold and wet rooftop behind gave way to a surge of heat that enveloped both him and Jude whole.  
  
Jude's cackle echoed throughout the building. "So this is it, JoJo! I get it now!" Jonathan could not reply. It wasn't just because he was holding in a cry of pain from how the heat was burning his skin, despite not even touching the flames. "The home of your family is burning and nothing will be left. I murdered your father and the one who you called brother would try to kill you if you survived. I had your dog burnt, ruined any true friendship, and wrecked your bond with your beloved Erina!  
  
"This wasn't an act of Hope! I actually did it! In your Despair, you've chosen to kill yourself with me! To seal me away! Oh, JoJo!" Jude stopped speaking and rammed her knee against his chest. Jonathan could feel at least two of his ribs breaking as he let go of her. "Too bad it's all for nothing!"  
  
She smashed her hand against the wall behind her and slowed to a stop.  
  
"Tell your father and Danny of how you failed!" She shouted from up high, whilst Jonathan plunged deeper into the flames. "There's nothing you can do. If I were still human, and if I were in your shoes, I'd give into despair and let out a big and loud scream! Come on, JoJo, give your baby sister one last present!"  
  
Jonathan's plan had backfired and now he was the one who was falling! He cursed his rotten luck. This couldn't happen, he could not let Judith survive to spread her madness and evil any longer.  
  
He saw the fragment of the spear that had formerly been embedded in his shoulder fall with him. The point of the spear was still sharp! He could use it and use it he did. He grabbed it as tightly as possible and drove it into the wall.  
  
Using the force of the sudden stop to spin himself upwards and jump up, he found his footing on the fragment and pressed his feet down. As the metal moved down and then up, he used the recoil to increase his jumping distance. Jonathan reached out and moved to grab Jude's foot.  
  
But not! He couldn't reach. Just an inch away from turning it all around and he failed! Jonathan felt himself lose his upward momentum and gravity took hold. All to Judith's great amusement.  
  
"I told you!" She said. This time, however, there was something hollow to her mockery. "I knew the spearpoint would be there and knew you could only jump so high! Even as a vampire, everything goes despairingly according to plan. And unlike me, you're still human! There's nothing you can do now."  
  
Jonathan reacted quickly. He still had a back-up! It as true that he was human and could not stretch out his arm beyond its length, but he could do the next best thing!  
  
Unbuckling his belt, he whipped it up and aimed for Jude's boot. The leather shot up and wrapped itself around Jude's leg and so Jonathan used all his might for one mighty yank!  
  
"What?" For the first time today, Judith actually sounded confused. It didn't last long, however, as she then let out a scream of surprise as Jonathan pulled her down yet again.  
  
"I won't let go this time! No matter what!" Jonathan pulled out a very familiar knife. His heart tore even at the sight of it, but he did not hesitate. "Behold! The knife you used to rob my father's life!"  
  
He pierced it straight into Jude's chest. The smile vanished from her face and she let out a howl from the pain. Jonathan had no time to do anything more than reach out and hold her tight with his arms. Even as the indescribable pain made him yearn to cry, he stayed firm and true.  
  
Nothing would make him let go!  
  
"JoJo, even after I shattered your arms, you're still fighting on? Why?!" She asked. Her voice carried many emotions; anger, confusion, panic, and no small amount of glee. "Oh well. It's not like it matters! You'll burn and I'll emerge from the ashes! All your fighting, Jonathan, was for nothing! Go the afterlife and curse yourself forever!"  
  
Gritting his teeth, Jonathan made an appeal to Heaven above. "Father, give me one last gasp of power! Give me the strength to lock away her despair forever!"  
  
He didn't know how it happened. Perhaps his father lent him aid from heaven, or Jonathan's own instincts from years of living in this very home made him react, but Jonathan felt his feet move back.  
  
With a single kick, he bounced forward and took Jude with him. The two of them, once merely falling to the ground, were now being driven towards it...  
  
The statue of Venus! The guardian of the Joestar mansion for centuries now! The goddess of love and beauty would be the one to put an end to the beast. As they fell, Jonathan saw the look on Jude's face.  
  
That look of fury, joy, but most of all, surprise. As if she had never realised that the statue was still standing.  
  
As Jude's flesh was pierced onto the spear of Venus, Jonathan used the impact as energy to throw himself off from her and hit the ground rolling. He finally felt free to scream from the pain of his bones breaking from the impact, but regretted it as the smoke filled his lungs.  
  
As for Judith, as her body was draped on the spear, she turned to Jonathan with confusion.  
  
"How could I have forgotten it? That spark." Jude laid there and then grinned, even as the blood poured down from her mouth. She looked at him directly as she spoke. "That spark of yours that makes you fight on. The spark that had you overcome Martha's abilities and my Despair and analysis all those years ago! The same spark that lets you bring Hope to those around you and overcome the odds! JoJo, even if I die here, I am content! Because this despair...the despair of death that could come...if it's real..."  
  
Jonathan could no longer see the face of his sister. The flames themselves were near-impossible to see through, but the black smoke created an impenetrable screen.  
  
"Then thank you, JoJo. For giving me the greatest high I've ever felt!"  
  
As Judith's witch-like cackle was smothered by collapsing debris and the roar of the flames, Jonathan himself rolled out of the mansion and welcomed the blast of cold air against his body. He welcomed the safety of the outdoors like an old friend, if also only now knowing how much pain was going through his entire body.  
  
"JoJo!" Speedwagon yelled out as he ran over to Jonathan's side. He delicately placed his body on his lap whilst Jonathan did his best to show no signs of pain from the movement. No need to trouble his friend's conscience. "You did it, JoJo. You won. You won and you survived. It's a miracle. JoJo!"  
  
He was slowly falling unconscious and the storm was not letting up. In his state, if Jonathan's wounds didn't kill him, he was at least going to be crippled for life or catch a disease if not given constant care. His family was destroyed and everywhere hurt.  
  
But that was okay. It truly was.  
  
 _Because...it's finally over._  
  


\---

  
"Dig, Wang Chan." Martha kept the gun pointed at his head, even as she kept five paces away from him. "Dig until you find it. Then, and only then, I will consider not killing you.”  
  
"Of course, Miss Cutler." He said with a whimper. It'd be pathetic if Martha wasn't any better.  
  
She'd been unconscious for hours after Jude had thrown her so far. It was a miracle that the trees nearby had kept her from the cold and rainwater. It had been another miracle that Wang Chan found her just as she was waking up in the early hours of the morning.  
  
Both of them had avoided the battle at the mansion. One by choice and trickery and the other forced by a sister who'd discarded her humanity.  
  
Both of them had returned to the ruins of the mansion. One for riches and because of a threat to his life and the other because she prayed she was wrong.  
  
Jude would have come to find her if she had killed JoJo and Speedwagon. If not, she'd at least have started wiping out the surrounding towns. There'd be some sign that Jude was alive and well for Martha to go on.  
  
Yet, instead, all Martha found were stories of JoJo barely surviving the fire thanks to a friend from London, and a very-alive town.  
  
So it was that she forced Wang Chan back to the mansion to help her scour the ruins and find Jude. She had to have been buried under these ruins somewhere. Alone and in pain but still alive.  
  
Martha would find it. If it took a week, if Jude was buried underground, or if it took a century to search the seas for whatever reason, she would save her sister.  
  
To do that, however, she not only needed someone to search with her, but to also be a ready supply of blood for when they'd find Jude.  
  
JoJo would have been sure she was dead if he had left. That meant her sister was in critical condition and constant protection. Martha could do that. She could do that easily.  
  
She could also take revenge if her sister was dead.  
  
That was when a pang of Despair rocked Martha's heart.  
  
What if Jude was dead? What would she even do?  
  
 _I could find the Stone Mask...Wang Chan has blood and I can put it on at the dead of night._ Martha thought to herself. But what then?  _I go and find JoJo and Speedwagon and kill them._  
  
She could kill Speedwagon. She could take a knife and plunge it where she hit him with a rock all those years ago, back when she wanted to avenge her sister's hard work. That interfering bastard would pay.  
  
Jonathan, however...Could Martha kill Jonathan? The rage inside her could do it. Blinded by Despair and vampirism, all thoughts of the past would become nothing and she could easily kill a wounded man. His bones would be broken and no one would be able to stop her.  
  
Yes, she realized, she probably could kill Jonathan. If she was now living in a world without her sister.  
 _  
Or I simply put on the Mask now and let the sunlight bring me to Jude._  
  
Martha could not live without Jude. It would be to live without her brain, or her heart, or the very muscles that allowed her to move! She and Jude were halves of a greater whole! They were the Despair Sisters! They couldn't exist without the other!  
  
 _"Promise me, Martha."_  
  
She couldn't fail now!  
  
The smoke that had been contained by the rubble was seeping out after Martha and Wang Chan had been removing every loose stone they could find. The Joestar mansion had been massive and that was before all of its floors collapsed on top of one another. The Mask, if it hadn't been broken, would be under a lot of wreckage.  
  
At times like this, Martha would have liked to look outside and gaze at the garden that Judith had built up over the years. The beauty of the flowers all forming their own distinct pattern at each subsection, only to then create one perfect picture when looking at it from the roof of the mansion. It was exactly what Martha did sometimes.  
  
Yet now all that was left were broken planets and ash heaps. Jude had seen to that.  
  
"Miss Cutler." Wang Chan's voice echoed, but Martha ignored it. She wanted to remember more than she wanted to listen. "Miss Cutler! I've found it. The Stone Mask. It's right-"  
  
His voice stopped, before then letting out a pain-filled howl.  
  
Martha had already perked up at the mention of the Stone Mask. She was sure that Judith would have never let it get far from her side. If they found the Mask, they'd find her sister.  
  
She dashed over, climbing and jumping over fragments of the place she once called home. The jutted edges of the portraits in the front hall, the weathervane of the rooftops that she used to sit and watch from, the banisters that now created a field of stakes for her to sidestep and glide across. All of that was ignored as she reached a cliffedge.  
  
How had she been so negligent as to let Wang Chan get this far without her watching? He was an entire level down!  
  
But he couldn't move. He was on his knees, head craned upwards, and Martha noticed how his expression was that of horror. As if someone had pierced his body with a knife and the blood was pouring out from him.  
  
Martha heard something else. Her body was covered in dust and soot, her head was ringing from the impact of being thrown through the air twice just hours ago, and she had let the wounds left by this treatment fester. A part of her wondered if this was all a mirage brought about by her madness.  
  
 _No...I'm sure of it._ Martha softly smiled and and readied to jump down.  _I hear you, Judith. I can hear you crying. Don't worry. I'll take you to a safe and dark place. The sun won't bother you anymore. We'll fix you and we can go back to the plan._  
  
Martha may have been the stupid and ugly sister, but she was also the big sister. That meant she had to teach Judith right from wrong, show her how to be a lady, and to protect her.  
  
She may have failed those first two, but she could still fulfil the third.  
  
Her adorable baby sister who didn't know how to approach people. Who was so lost and hurt that she needed someone to protect her. Someone who could understand her Despair and make her happy.  
  
A soft noise sang through the air.  
  
"Wrrrryyyyyy."  
  
A soft laughter joined with it.  
  
"Ufufufu..." Martha stepped back and readied to run. "Don't worry, Judith. It's okay now. Big sister's here, and I won't let anyone ever hurt you again."  
  


\---

  
Jonathan Joestar felt happy.  
  
It had been so long since he could say that unconditionally. Seven years had gone by since his halcyon boyhood days where he was innocent and thought he'd spend every day playing with Danny, making friends, and having fun passed on.  
  
Then the twins Judith and Marc- Martha came. After everything they did, Jonathan was always somewhat on-guard around them. He constantly suspected them, even in his happiest of days. He had never forgotten what they did to those closest to him.  
  
But now? Judith had died, preventing her from spreading the evil of Stone Mask, whilst Martha had vanished. If she knew of her sister's death, she'd have gone on a rampage, the thought having haunted Jonathan's dreams. However, if she was not her sister's final victim, then grief had made her flee. Where to, he did not know.  
  
Yet even after that, in those few minutes of lucidity as he was taken to the hospital, he feared his future would be one of isolation and infirmity from his injuries. His family had been wiped out and most of his friends from Hugh Henderson Academy had quickly moved on with their lives after graduation. Marcus had been his best friend.  
  
After the battle with Jude, Jonathan wondered if he had anything left.  
  
 _But she came for me._ She tended to his wounds as if she was his guardian angel. It seemed that the loss of Venus at the Joestar mansion had been replaced by Erina. If that was the price, it was one he was glad to pay. That was especially true in this uncertain time.  _If the Stone Mask has been destroyed, then I must take on the obligations of my father, and to also begin a new life. Archaeology was always the plan. What are a few months of recovery, handling family affairs, and making up for years of lost time with Erina?_  
  
He also had a friend in a certain Robert E.O. Speedwagon. He had thought he'd head back to London, now that the threat of Jude had been taken care of, but he seemed more than happy to stay in Liverpool with them.  
  
 _"I wish I could say I had friends in Ogre Street, but that would be a lie. All I had were goons and cutthroats who feared me." Speedwagon explained. He grinned and tipped his hat to Jonathan. "Besides, maybe I want to see how an earnest gentleman lives his life. Learn a thing or two for my own sake."_  
  
Right now, partly because of his injuries and also because his home was now ashes and ruins, he had been living with Erina. He still needed treatment and she'd been more than happy to help him, if thankfully not having to turn her skin raw cleaning him.  
  
It would be hard to adjust. There were to be no more games of rugby or any such sport. The doctors told him that another injury and he may need the walking stick to walk from now on, not to mention that his arm may never heal correctly. It would be hard to adjust for someone as active as him, dreaming to become an archaeologist.  
  
But he knew that with the support by his side, he could still live a life of happiness and fulfilment.  
  
"Erina...I cannot tell you how good it is to see you again. When I heard that you were moving to India, so shortly after those rumours, I feared-"  
  
"I understand." Erina replied. She turned away from him with a downcast expression. "I only wish I had the courage to tell you directly why I was leaving. My father had simply been offered a job by the Raj. We barely had time to pack. Honestly, I wish I had the courage to tell you many things. The truth, for example."  
  
"I have never blamed you for what happened." Jonathan said. The emotions he kept inside for seven years began to pour out from him. "The fault lies with Judith who spread those rumours and wanted to hurt you. Hurt you for rescuing me from despair. And it also lies with-"  
  
Jonathan finally realised it.  
  
Before, he'd been blinded by the surrounding horror, tragedy, and need to fight for his life. At most, he could only afford it a few brief thoughts whilst doing his best to finally put an end to Jude.  
  
He hadn't dwelt on it until now. The pain from his injuries, the battle for a successful treatment of said injuries, his re-uniting with Erina, and in his free moments his mind had been occupied by the fear of the Stone Mask still being out there. That someone would stumble upon it and its evil would evil on.  
  
Yet now! Only now! This moment was when Jonathan finally let the implications of a secret lasting seven years sink in.  
  
 _Marcus Cutler was truly Martha Cutler. The man I called brother was actually a woman!_ Jonathan's blood turned cold and his faced paled. An incident from the past came rushing back and took on a more sinister meaning.  _I dishonoured a woman!_  
  
It was two years ago. Hugh Henderson's winning streak had just begun and the whole team had been celebrating in the changing rooms. Martha had his-  _her_ own changing room for personal reasons. No one wanted to inquire and had accepted it. For most, they found the dour face depressing.  
  
Only, one afternoon, Jonathan had seen a stray sock and realised that his brother must have had it be caught by a stray gust of wind when opening his door. He had gone to Marcus' changing room to give it back and go back to the team.  
  
When he opened the door, however, he found something else...  
  
 _Marcus let out an almost-womanly squeal and rushed for a nearby turning, protecting his body with the wall. Jonathan could only see his head by now, but had already averted his eyes and closed them for good measure. He said nothing about how shapely and feminine Marcus' body looked.  
  
"I'm sorry, Marcus! I only meant to give you this. You dropped it." Jonathan explained, speaking very quickly. "I'll be going now."  
  
"Th-Thank you, JoJo. I'll try not to mess up next time." Marcus replied, scrambling over his words and sounding almost girlish. As Jonathan left, he swore he could hear his brother say, "Aaa...Jude is never going to let me hear the end of this."_  
  
Jonathan returned to reality and stopped in his tracks.  
  
At the first sign of trouble, Erina immediately showed her concern, "JoJo, what is it? Does your leg hurt? We can stop here for a moment." She said, before Jonathan shook his head.  
  
"Erina...I have something I must confess to you. No matter what, you cannot panic and you cannot forget that it was not your choice." Erina nodded and Jonathan chose to approach this delicately. "Marcus Cutler...did anything ever feel strange about him?" He asked. Erina frowned.  
  
"He was strangely devoted to his sister. Every word and command was as sacred as the Bible to him. It was like they were a dark version of a Queen and her knight. Why?"  
  
Jonathan put her words aside. He had no intention of telling her about  _that_ part of their sordid relationship, for fear of making what he was about to say much worse. "Marcus...was not Marcus." He said. "She was Martha. Martha Cutler is her true name."  
  
Erina blinked. She appeared confused for a second, before she then realised it. Her eyes quivered from the shock and she stumbled over her words. Without thinking, she raised her fingers and gently pressed them against her lips.  
  
"So soft..." She whispered to herself. As if realising that Jonathan was next to her, her face matched a tomato's and for once she was caught in a fluster. "I don't know why I said that! I'm sorry."  
  
"Don't apologize. I'm only now realising how many times I crossed a line thinking that she was a man." Jonathan confessed. Like discovering the twist to a mystery novel, all of the clues became embarrassingly clear. "She would always change separately, preferred loose clothing, and I swore there was a reason I found so many bandages across the house."  
  
"To think that she'd go so far, and for a sister like Jude." Erina said, shaking her head in dismay. "I don't think I'll ever understand her."  
  
"I agree. I just can't see why she did the things she did." Jonathan felt a silence hang over the two of them.  
  
Yet, as time went on, the nature of it changed. What had been an awkward and tense moment lasted for but a few seconds before it dissolved into goodwill. Jonathan wondered if it was the good weather, sunny without being excessively hot, or perhaps the reason laid in the company beside him.  
  
The two them silently agreed to put their mutual embarrassing stories behind them, and continue on their walk home. Jonathan kept an eye out for any good places for them to have a picnic on.  
  
His left arm ached and his right leg groaned in pain every fiftieth step, but Jonathan would accept this price for happiness. The price for which he paid so that he and Erin could enjoy the rest of their lives together.  
  
That was when he heard footsteps approaching behind him.  
  
 _Just what is that?_ He asked himself, turning his head to find a strange man behind them, yet neither of them noticing him walking down the same road, going in the opposite direction and making a turn. How odd.  
  
Jonathan Joestar didn't know it yet, but everything he had been through, from his childhood battles to the fires of the Joestar mansion, was only the beginning. The beginning of a great and long saga.  
  
For his meeting with the man in the top hat, by the name of William A Zeppeli, would begin the next chapter in the long struggle between the Joestar bloodline and the overwhelming Despair of a woman whose dreams threaten to the destroy the world.  
  
It would also be the beginning of a journey to finally destroy the Stone Mask.  
  


\---

  
Windknight's Lot. The famous village where the great knights and heroes of old would train and hone their skills. It was protected by three near-insurmountable mountains and the path to the village was one filled with traps and deception to further protect it. Its population consisted of farmers, fishermen, and prisoners kept below to mine for coal.  
  
By tomorrow night, it would be no more.  
  
The architect of its destruction was currently sat in her recently-claimed mansion, although it was much closer to a castle than anything, and was resting on a chair near a simmering fireplace. Its flames were just strong enough to light up the room for her. If one were to look at the owner, they would find a woman covered in light- almost invisible- burns.  
  
Hundreds of innocent lives had been sacrificed for such a miraculous recovery.  
  
Some had been kidnapped by Wang Chan, the former shopkeeper now tied to his master forever, and others had been taken by Martha Cutler, the one who thought she could be a sword and shield against the whole worlds.  
  
Others were just Jack's sloppy-seconds, whores who went down the wrong road at the wrong time of night.  
  
Right now? There were but two humans in this room alongside the Vampire who planned the end of the world as we know it. Two humans who had no chance of stopping her. Nor did either of them plan to.  
  
Both were incapable, but one was far more so than the other.  
  
Judith Eydris would have barely been recognised by those who thought her as a friend in appearance alone. Her personality would have scared them off, even if she did not thirst for Despair.  
  
The dignified and mature young woman who was immaculate in fashion and manners, with graceful long-flowing hair, and who tended to the sick and needy despite her wealth, was gone forever.  
  
In her place was a woman who wore a white buttoned shirt with a black cardigan over it, both undone by the third button to reveal the top of her black bra, whilst a loose white tie dangled from her neck. For her legs, she wore black long-heeled boots that went half way to her knees knees, and her dignity was protected by a skirt outrageously small by the standards of English society, just barely covering herself if she went to bend or crouch.  
  
On her head sat a jewelled crown, chosen on a whim. Her nails were long red claws, much like a cat's or a bear's, and her hair was now tied into twintails kept up by a white bear and black bear hairclip. She had openly confessed that she'd been happy to know that her hair regenerated as well, not wishing to be bald.  
  
"Otherwise, I'd be a freak-show like you, Martha!"  
  
If she wanted, she could have easily torn the life in her arms to shreds. Even before she had discarded her humanity in the name of Despair, she could easily kill a baby without physical or psychological trouble. The same went for her sister.  
  
But why do so? Why just take the child's life when she could introduce him to all her pets! They seemed so energetic after seeing the baby.  
  
That said, she could have done without the tabby's mewling.  
  
"Pl-Please...Please!" The cat begged. The tears ran down his face and he strained again to cut the stitches tying him to his feline body. "Kill me! Let me join my family!"  
  
The squawking of her budgee.  
  
"I can't stand it. The pain. My necks hurts so much." She whimpered. It was an endless fight for her to keep her head from dragging to the ground and taking her body with it. Honestly, what was the point of a bird that couldn't fly?  
  
Even the bitching of her Great Dane! How did JoJo ever stand Danny?  
  
"I don't want to...I don't want to eat it!" He blubbered. Jude thought dogs loved meat! Sure it had been cooked pretty rare, the meat still red and dripping, but it was supposed to taste like pork!  
  
"I have very fussy pets. Honestly, they're so ungrateful." She said to herself. She sat with her back to the woman behind her and focused on the fire in front of her and the babe in her hands. "I give them immortality and they just cry about it. I sometimes wonder if it was even worth tampering with my own zombification. At least Jack was grateful for it."  
  
All she needed was a discolouration of the eyes to mess with his vision and the bud was implanted onto him.  
  
In all honesty, Jude had been an admirer of Jack the Ripper's work. The way he turned murder into a fine-art, how he toyed with the papers and the police, turning them into nothing more than tools to heighten his legend, and how he spread despair across the streets of London.  
  
He struck the most vulnerable in London and somehow made all of its citizens fear him.  
  
She had often thought about who he was within the Joestar mansion. Was he that medical student stricken with syphilis? The merchant seaman who had a predilection to murder and mutilation? Or perhaps that physician of Queen Victoria’s, cleaning up the Royal Family’s messes for them.  
  
Jude had long since decided it didn’t matter. And so that made the discovery of his identity much more disappointing.  
  
Yet there was more to him. The true reason that he killed... a reason that she would now keep secret for all time. Nobody would know but her why he did the things he did, not even Martha. None of his victims’ relatives, their loved ones, or the general public would experience closure.  
  
The reason he had was so simple, yet he had such a drive for it. She found it all delicious, knowing that this pathetic and delusional man was now nothing more than her slave.  
  
It might have been how his victim wept as she was torn apart, admittedly.  
  
She had to have him as one of her followers. A man too weak to fight against more than the most vulnerable now had the strength to tear apart any who got in the way of his desires.  
  
(When he first spoke to her after the zombification, he had said she was akin to a creature from Hell. Jude considered it the greatest compliment she had ever been given.)  
  
The only problem was that his presence only further fed Martha's delusion that she had 'protect' Jude. All this promising to protect Judith's happiness and shit like that. As if she could be of any use in that regard, now that Jude had the power of a Vampire.  
  
For someone who was supposed to understand Jude's thirst for Despair, she had been slipping up a lot recently.  
  
(She was even beginning to wonder if Martha  _actually_ understood or if she'd been wrong these past seven years.)  
  
 _She's so confused. She actually thinks I need protection._ Maybe she had been right at first, when she and Wang Chan carefully removed her body under the cover of night and whisked her away to London. But that hadn't been the case for weeks!  
  
Not after all the lives she'd taken.  
  
"Please. Please just spare the life of my child. I'll do anything!" The woman pleaded.  
  
Jude turned her head towards the woman and raised an eyebrow. "You know it's rude to interrupt others, right? Whether when in conversation, or when they're deep in thought. Let me tell you now, you're not nearly pretty enough to get away with that shit. Just what were you going to teach this child?"  
  
"I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" She wailed. "Just spare him. Spare my child!"  
  
"So you want me to spare your baby boy? You want to make sure I don't do anything nasty. I understand." Jude smiled gently and asked, "You want me to promise that I won't break his skull, twist his limbs, slice him open, flay off his skin, throw him into this fireplace, or make him another one of my pets over here?"  
  
"Yes! Yes! I'll let you do it to me. All those horrifying tortures! If only you'll let my child live!" The woman looked driven to madness. The despair around her was almost adorable. The very fate of her emotional state was reliant on what Jude did to one little baby.  
  
Would she escape with Hope, or would she be devoured completely by Despair?  
  
"You don't understand..." A soft voice warbled. It came from the corner of the room where Jude had been working on recently.  
  
To Jude's right, resting by the corner, was the face of a man eternally crying. Out from the back of his head were countless moving flesh buds that connected him to the dozens of different plants and organs. If you slowly looked upwards to the ceiling, you would spot the two right lungs tied together to form a complete one, and the other two heads gasping for air.  
  
Looking downwards to the floor would show the intestinal tracks that folded into themselves and had been stitched together to feed the stomachs. All of these organs slowly expanded and contracted whilst the greenery was starting to take on a blackish-red colour.  
  
Jude had developed a green thumb, after all, and the Stone Mask had provided her with a lot more variety for flowers.  
  
At long last, she could finally have the garden she wanted and not the garden Lord Joestar wanted to see from his good little girl.  
  
The plant simpered and whined, "She's a master of despair. The second you walked into this room, she learnt everything about you, and will trap you. If you don't bend to her liking, she'll just break you. Like she did all of us."  
  
"You can listen to him, or you can listen to me. It's your choice. Hell, it's not even that big a deal. Your life isn't the one on the line." Jude said, shrugging her shoulders and bouncing the baby in her hands.  
  
"I still accept. Just spare my child!" The woman screamed at the top of her lungs. With simply a baby in her hands, Judith Eydris had brought this woman to the brink of despair.  
  
She paused for a moment. The mother lingered in despair while Jude contemplated it for a moment. She'd tormented a lot of people, but how long would that entertain her before it too became boring?  
  
Would it not be more despairing to let her go and warn people of the threat in the castle? Still, maybe a reminder of the threat would help.  
  
Jude tightened her grip on the baby. A soft gasp and nothing more, whilst the mother was practically hyperventilating.  
  
"Fine." She said. Leaving her in suspense had been getting boring anyway. She put her hand to her heart and declared, "I, Judith Eydris, promise that your child will not be hurt by myself or by my minions."  
  
She sighed in relief and was already muttering about thanking God and putting a hand over her heart. Just like every other concerned mother Jude had threatened.  
  
The Despair vanished from the woman and was replaced by a Hope so bright it was enough to sicken Jude. How boring of her.  
  
 _So let's make this exciting again._ Jude had always intended this, but now she was going to really enjoy it.  
  
Jude kicked her chair away and threw the baby towards its mother. With a horrified scream, the woman leapt up and threw her arms out to try and catch her child and save it. She even kicked back so that, if she did catch it, there'd be no sudden stop that'd kill it either.  
  
And she did catch it! Her hands grasped it, held it close to her chest, and landed straight on her back halfway across the room. She had positioned her body so that she herself would take the damage whilst her baby would be mostly unharmed! Jude couldn't see any signs of pain on that baby!  
  
This was the strength of a mother's love.  
  
"Oh my sweet little babe. It's okay. You're-" The woman stopped. Her face paled, her eyes widened, she was in a cold sweat, and a soft crunching noise was music to Jude's ears, especially when accompanied by the classic sound of dripping liquid.  
  
Her sternum was gushing out blood quick. Jude laid her back on the mantle of the fireplace and watched as the woman whimpered softly, breaking out into a cold sweat, before she figured out what was happening to her. Any second now and...  
  
There it was! The pained and heart-broken wailing from not only the mother, but also from Jude's pets and plant!  
  
The baby lifted up its head and now the mother could truly see the pale skin that only the dead could achieve. The red glowing eyes that held no love or care for more than its master and the food in front of it. The sharp teeth that were arranged into a big smile in gratitude to Judith.  
  
The Zombie let out a delightful howl as it continued to feast.  
  
"I never said that the baby wouldn't hurt you!" Jude let all of her teeth come out for this smile. She threw up her hands and called out to the rest of the room's occupants. "Come on out! My adorable little children!"  
  
An observant eye, unconcerned with questions such as 'how can I save my child?' or 'when will she let me die?', might have noticed the hidden doors littered across the walls and ceiling. A keen sense of hearing might have even heard the soft giggling from behind those doors as the woman begged and pleaded.  
  
But you'd have to be deaf, blind, and unable to feel touch to not notice how the doors shattered open and a small army of small bears poured out. Every last one of them had a vertical line down the middle, except for their snouts and bellies.  
  
One half was pure-white as snow and giving a gentle smile as any toy bear would. The other half was pitch-black bar the red horizontal stripe that served for an eye, and the white teeth on its sinister grin.  
  
Jude had designed these costumes herself; a little spin on those bears she'd give the sick and needy. They were a vital part of her experiments, after all, in helping children learn how to be good adults in the world to come. It was truly an act of charity.  
  
Why some of their parents were so grateful that they begged for the same! All so that they could be with their children- but Jude admittedly preferred them as pets and occasionally greenery.  
  
But, in this case, the last thing this mother would ever feel would be heartbreak at what her beloved son had become, and the anguish of dozens of zombies tearing her flesh apart.  
  
With a single scream of suffering as her music, Jude laughed and embraced herself.  
  
It was amazing!  
  
No longer was she bound by the rules! She was freed from morality; freed from humanity; and most of all she had been freed from the rules of that stupid house! She could now indulge in her Despair and let it bloom all over the world!  
  
Jude would find new ways to bring humanity into Despair. Town to town, city to city, and country to country, she would use new and innovative methods! The fate of humanity had fallen into her palm and she would not waste such an opportunity.  
  
All she had to do now was wait for him to come. She would finally be able to break her ties to the past completely.  
  
 _JoJo, I can't wait for you to arrive. Because when you do,_ Judith breathed in and shuddered in delight.  _I'll break your body and mind! What will come first? Will you sink into despair, or will you die by my hand? Come quickly, JoJo, before I get bored of this town and move onto the next step of my plan!_  
  
Her zombies were loyal, stronger than any man on this planet, and were rabid. Put an army of them against humanity and they would overrun even the most well-defended of cities. All Jude needed now were the numbers.  
  
With Windknight's Lot, she would have hundreds. When they'd storm London, she would have thousands. When they'd take all of England, she would have millions. All of Britain would fall before her! After that, Europe, then Asia, Africa, and not even the New World would be safe from her hordes!  
  
All of humanity would be wiped out or turned into her slaves! It would be the extermination of all life on the planet! The literal destruction of all Hope!  
  
This was the true Despair! A Despair that would surpass anything else Judith could do. A Despair beyond even forsaking her humanity and destroying the history of Judith Eydris.  
  
There would be nothing left of her other than Despair! She would ascend mortality and become truly immortalised forever with a hell on earth as her legacy!  
  
Tomorrow would be the last day of humanity. The last chance for the likes of JoJo to come storming in and battle Judith to the end! The final battle that would decide the fate of the world itself was coming.  
  
And she couldn't wait.  
  


\---

  
Jack the Ripper had been killed.  
  
Martha didn't know how she knew this. She did not have Jude's powers and nor did she have any supernatural mind-reading powers either. There was no evidence for her to claim that Jack had been killed.  
  
But she simply knew.  
  
She could feel it. He was coming to destroy the Stone Mask and finish what he had started back at the mansion. He was coming to kill Judith.  
  
Why not? The Vampire residing in a tall and malevolent castle on the hill overlooking an innocent village was the perfect villain. Jude had already used her powers to torture whole families and drive them into despair. Why wouldn't a hero emerge to stop her?  
  
It was also fate. It was fate that dictated that Jude and JoJo end up fighting with one another. The two were so different that a clash was inevitable. There could be no balance while both lived.  
  
Yet that did not mean that fate could not be broken.  
  
Both Judith and JoJo had defied the natural order so many times that it would be expected that even the rule of good versus evil and hope versus despair could be subverted. It was possible for someone to come between the two and end it for them.  
  
These past few months did not have Martha simply lie and wait for Jude to send her out to collect more samples.  
  
In the world of man, she was among the strongest, but among the world of monsters she was nothing but a human. A human who could only use knives and guns against creatures that could withstand them easily.  
  
 _Why won't you let me join you? Why won't you let me share in your gift?_ Martha had wanted nothing more than to share the Mask with Judith, but had been refused at every turn. Each time the refusal was more violent than the other.  _We can be together forever. You will never lack someone who understands you._  
  
They would be together in spreading despair across the entire planet.  
  
Martha, however, realised the true reason she had been denied it. It made perfect sense once she remembered why they both had ended up in this situation to begin with.  
  
She had failed Judith too many times. She had lost to JoJo, that Vampire, and was useless when the police had surrounded them.  
  
 _"Promise me, Martha."_  
  
Promises were easy to make, but it was keeping them that was most important. She had to keep that one most of all.  
  
So Martha had to learn how to fight with the monsters.  
  
It was amazing what months of practice- true practice- could do for her. She learnt from heroes and scum about how to handle a knife and blade in ways she could never imagine. She discovered how a simple bomb could turn the tide when followed up by sufficient firepower to the cranium. She discovered just how far Jude's mind could take her when re-designing weapons.  
  
Not to mention that, when you were free to aim to kill during training, it did a much more effective job in making you stronger.  
  
So that was why Martha, caked in sweat, dirt, blood, and a dozen other liquids, was sitting inside the Chamber of the Double Headed Dragon, having finished a recent training session. As of this moment, she was focused on sharpening her knives for the battle to come. The limbs and corpses of the fallen surrounded her and she looked up at the ceiling with an empty yet somehow fulfilled expression.  
  
 _Judith. I'm becoming stronger. I can still protect you._ Martha closed her eyes and breathed in the air. It smelt of victory and suffering.  _Just you wait, Jude. I'll show you the strength of my heart. No one will come within a mile of you without me cutting them down._  
  
But it was not just her little sister she was thinking about. She had another on her mind that she could not forget. The one who most likely had slain Jack the Ripper and was now making his way to Windknight's Lot to try and slay Judith.  
  
Martha remembered the first person to have ever smiled at her unconditionally, to have seen her as her and not as the lesser one of two, and extended a hand of friendship. She remembered the days of hunting, rugby and helping one another with lessons. She remembered people noting how good a friend the brothers were for each other. She remembered Jonathan being one of the few who she trusted with a smile.  
  
But she also remembered that she made her choice long ago.  
  
If Jude wished to bring despair, then Martha would help her bring it. If Jude wished to destroy the world, then Martha would destroy it for her. If Jude wished to drink Martha's blood, even as she left countless bite marks over her body, when they were together, then Martha would gladly offer a vein.  
  
If Jude wished for JoJo to die...then Martha would kill him for her, just as she expected he in turn would now kill her to slay the evil Vampire.  
  
Just as Jude and JoJo seemed destined to fight one another, so to was Martha destined to put an end to JoJo's life before he could reach that point. No matter how she felt about him before, it would be done.  
  
To abandon her own will to help her sister, no matter how much it hurt her.  
  
Was there any truer love than that?


	4. Can't Buy Me Love

**Arc One: Phantom Ronpa**

****Chapter Four: Can't Buy Me Love** **

  
\---

  
"JoJo, is this what you believed would kill me?" Jude couldn't stop herself from laughing. It was just too funny! "Didn't I tell you back at the mansion? My mind is on an entirely different plane compared to humanity! The second I learnt that I held complete control over my body, I discovered a way to turn it into a thousand different weapons!"  
  
Jude stood on top of a pillar of stone looking down on humanity's last hope. She put her fists against her hips and her head was slightly tilted to the right, as if confused, or even mockingly curious. If it weren't for her sneering grin, she'd probably appear almost inquisitive as to what they'd think would happen.  
  
The boy was a decent lure for getting them out here. Night had come and now Jude was free to roam and sic her slaves onto these fools.  
  
His sister had been interesting as well. She appeared so dignified and brave that Jude couldn't wait to break her into no more than a simpering servant.  
  
Still, it seemed that JoJo was full of surprises. Jude had known better than to think that he'd come without a plan, but she never expected that he and this Zeppeli person would dispatch her zombie knights and little bears so quickly. With but a handful of kicks and punches (she loved how both of them named their attacks!) they crushed her forces.  
  
That had been when Zeppeli came to fight against her.  
  
"Hey baby! Do you plan on staying upon that perch forever?" He cried out. His choice of words had interested Jude, who had been more than happy to play along.  
  
His tone had changed, however, when he felt the full weight of her Despair crushing down on him and JoJot.  
  
"I have never felt such evil before in my life. I can sense the world itself around her person bending to her whims from fear alone!" Zeppeli had then pointed to the scar by the lower-right section of her chest. The final physical reminder of her battle with JoJo. "Just how many humans have been sacrificed to feed your gluttony for suffering?"  
  
Jude had shifted her body to the side and raised her right hand, lifting her fingers up one at a time and muttering numbers to herself. Jude then smirked as she replied, "Would you like me to start with men, women, or children?"  
  
That had gotten the both of them mad. JoJo screamed out her name in fury whilst Zeppeli rushed up ahead. He hopped on the stones, ascending to her level, and threw back his fist. Jude did nothing but raise her palm to intercept whatever it was he had planned.  
  
"Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!" Zeppeli shouted as a strange, almost-electric, yellow energy rippled through his arm and made its way to her palm and the rest of her arm.  
  
She had recognised this. This was how both he and JoJo had slain her zombies. And no wonder!  
  
For this was the energy of the sun. This was the energy of life itself. This was Hope personified!  
  
 _And there is no Hope within me._ Jude shivered as she vaporised her own blood. The sensation alone was so discomforting that it brought her despair, but the pain. Oh the pain!  
  
"Body Freezing Technique!" She cried as she decided to copy JoJo and his friends in naming their attacks. This was so much fun! "When I vaporise the blood within my arm, I pulled away all the heat from your arm. And that's the trick, isn't it? This Ripple of yours needs to be conducted!"  
  
As Zeppeli's blood burst out of his arm, all along the very bloodstream he'd used for his Ripple, Jude had made for a left hook aimed straight at Zeppeli's skull.  
  
"Your life's work has come to this point. All your training and fighting has been to die at my hands on humanity's final night! When you reach the afterlife, tell your friends of how you failed. You said 'we meet again' to me, referring to the Stone Mask, right? Well let me tell you how the Mask replies," Jude leered her head in as close as possible with a predatory smile. "Who are you, William Zeppeli?!"  
  
JoJo, however, blocked her strike and added his own Ripple to Zeppeli's. It was strong. With enough training, it'd have been even stronger than his own teacher's, maybe even something to worry about.  
  
But it was useless. Jude's vampirism meant that she was just simply stronger than JoJo and could hold the two of them back when using her Body Freezing Technique again. This time, it tore the skin off from JoJo's palm and left Zeppeli open for a strike at one of his legs.  
  
Both men, after having been thrown back, landed with differing levels of grace. The boy, who'd been on JoJo's shoulder, was caught by Speedwagon, JoJo landed on his feet, and Zeppeli ended up crashing against Speedwagon and the latter barely kept standing.  
  
All that training they'd put their work into...and it was all for nothing! JoJo himself was staring at his hand in shock.  
  
"The cold! The pain may be from ice, but it's like my hand has been set on fire." JoJo then looked up at Jude whilst holding his cold hand. Jude could smell the fear slowly welling inside him. "The Ripple is the only thing that can kill a vampire for sure. And yet there Jude stands, without even a scratch on her. Can we even defeat her?"  
  
"We need to get the blood circulating for Mister Zeppeli's arm. Otherwise it'll rot!" Speedwagon cried out as he did his best to tend to the savaged limb.  
  
Perhaps now was the time to play the kind angel.  
  
"JoJo, I have a deal for you." Jude said. She caked her menace with a tender tone of voice. "I will promise to abandon the Body Freezing Technique, whilst you and Zeppeli can have time to recover, be allowed your Zoom Punches and Sunlight Yellow Overdrives and the rest. But, in return, I ask only one thing."  
  
She pointed to the boy. He squealed when he realised what she had just offered to them.  
  
Mercy, and removing a weapon of hers, in exchange for surrendering the life of this children. Taking his belief in the three of them and casting it aside for the sake of a mere lightening of the pressure.  
  
Jude already knew the answer she'd get, but waited for it regardless.  
  
"Jude! I will never allow you to harm a child as you've been doing to others. I will not let you do to him what you've done to so many others! Those children in the bears... So long as I draw breath, I will never allow you to have him!" JoJo said. He stood taller than before and he moved as if he hadn't been injured at all.  
  
"Oh JoJo, if only you could see it," Jude wrapped her arms around herself and let herself drown in pleasure. "You're just so amazing. We really are two peas in a pod. But no! We're too different for that to be the case. Instead, we are like black and white, the sea and the sky, evil and good, and Despair and Hope. I don't think I'll ever be able to find a better man than you on this planet. I doubt I'll ever be able to break you into Despair."  
  
She could feel her eyes beginning to swirl and the spit dribbling down the left side of her mouth. With a loud suck, she pulled the spit back into her mouth and swallowed, before she changed position.  
  
Raising her left hand up to the sky, she folded all but her pinky and index finger, while doing the same with the fingers of her right hand, except her right arm was positioned just in front of her stomach pointing leftwards. She looked down at Jonathan and screamed at the top of her lungs.  
  
"So instead I'll kill you and make you into a zombie!" She declared. What a fine way to put an end to the Joestar family! "With all that breathing you've learnt, put it to good use and be ready to scream out in horror. For I now call upon the knights of old to bring down the successors of their will to be just and good! All for me!"  
  
The ground beneath her enemies shook and rumbled, but it was the stone where Jonathan stood upon that moved the most violently. In fact, to the awe of himself and his friends, the stone itself began to rise! It reached about half of the height of Jude's pillar when it stopped!  
  
Yes, this was his strength. The strength of the knight Tarkus! He had always been a powerful man, but the power of a zombie had magnified it to unimaginable heights for any human.  
  
Jude remembered when she was told the stories of Bruford and Tarkus, two of the finest knights in Britain, if not whoever lived! Back when they were small children, and they had free time, Martha would always insist on playing Bruford and Tarkus, defending Mary from evil villains and dragons.  
  
It was one of the few times that she refused her little sister. Jude was always having to be Queen Mary, rather than the dragon, no matter how many times she demanded to be it.  
  
 _Now she gets to close her eyes and pretend she's fucking the Queen of Scots with them. Living the dream of any stable-boy._ Jude thought to herself. She looked down at the three strongest warriors who served under her.  
  
Bruford was by her right, Tarkus on her left, and at the centre, in a white turtleneck covered by a black jacket, along with a black skirt that went down to her knees, and the same damn dumb look on her face, was Martha.  
  
Jude could see from above that Martha was drawing a knife from one of the holsters on her back. So predictable.  
  
It'd be despairing if it wasn't so disappointing.  
  
"JoJo, you remember these two, don't you? Even history has bowed to Jude's will." Martha said. It was only Jude's vampiric senses that let her hear the blatherings of her dumb sister. "You will never reach her level again."  
  
Tarkus raised but a single finger and the boulder JoJo stood upon shattered into rocks.  
  
"It broke apart with only one finger?!" Speedwagon shouted out in disbelief.  
  
"Like they did in the days of old for Queen Mary, we shall not allow you to come near Jude." Martha said, paying no mind to Speedwagon. No, there was only one man on her mind.  
  
"Ah, so you think of me as a Queen?" Jude asked from her perch above.  
  
"Of course I do. Just as I am your knight." Martha's response only made Jude grimace, as if she ate a rotten apple, and glare down.  
  
"If by 'knight' you mean 'a perverted sack of shit that only knows how to kill', then yes. You are a knight. And a knight knows when to stand back." She put emphasis on that last sentence. "Go somewhere distant to watch the game. You know what to do, if Bruford and Tarkus are no more. Don't try it before, or I'll suck you dry."  
  
Those knights were part of a story that Martha loved. A story of loyalty that mattered more than life, of a love so platonic and beautiful that it inspired romance, and an eternal will to fight for the one they swore loyalty to. A story about loyalty so great that they ranked it above their own souls.  
  
 _And of deception and hatred and Despair._ Jude remembered how her mother, and then Martha, would tell her the story before bed. She especially loved the twist when the knights were executed.  _To have put everything into a single cause or person and to then have it robbed. If only I'd been at those execution grounds._  
  
"We have turned our backs on the world that spat on our hope and have now pledged allegiance to Jude." Bruford declared.  
  
"We'll kill anyone who gets in the way of her destiny. Now let us hear your cries of despair!" Tarkus roared.  
  
"Well, JoJo? What will you do now?" Martha asked as she lingered back. She knew how to follow orders, although that was probably her only talent.  
  
Jude, however, had many talents, if some were less welcome than others. One of which was that she knew which of her servants would last longer than the others, and how exactly she'd come to own them.  
  
Bruford's Despair was that of mourning and depression. His being a zombie helped, but Jude had a feeling that someone like JoJo might represent a different kind of threat to him. If he didn't redeem Bruford in life, he'd be redeemed in death.  
  
Not like Tarkus. Jude always knew, when being told the stories, that Tarkus had more of an ego. An ego she exploited to own his soul entirely. He thought he'd become the superior knight to Bruford, if given the chance, but was nothing more than a pawn.  
  
And Martha...Jude knew about Martha ever since she was born. All that stupid woman wanted was for Jude to be happy.  
  
These three were the walls that JoJo would have to break through to reach her.  
  
 _Whatever you do, I'll be watching, JoJo._ Jude folded her hands into fists and put them against her hips. She looked down at the fight that was about to begin and already felt bored. She couldn't wait for this part to end.  _Because I know you'll win this battle. I felt your Ripple; you truly are the only one who can stop me now. So what'll it be, JoJo? How many of your friends will die before you stand before me? Build up your Hope and have faith, so that when I crush it under my foot, the last thing you'll know as a human will be Despair!_  
  
"Farewell, JoJo! I don't need to see how this battle turns out. Do you know why?" She didn't even wait to give him an answer. "Because I'm off to turn the people of Windknight's Lot into my loyal slaves! They'll be nothing but extensions of my will as they'll spread and devour the whole of England itself. You want to stop me? Then you'll have to do it over the corpses of my minions and your friends."  
  
Jude leapt backwards and let herself vanish into the night. JoJo tried to call out to her but had no chance of chasing her down. The battle with Bruford had just begun for him.  
  
She knew as well that Martha wouldn't disobey her. Martha would remember where to take Tarkus if Bruford fell in battle and what to do afterwards. Jude's older sister had her orders and knew the punishment for not obeying them. She wouldn't even resist.  
  
Not that'd she be able to anymore. Martha had gone from the physically strongest to the physically weakest of the sisters just like that! Jude could do whatever she wanted to Martha!  
  
All thanks to this power! She just couldn't get enough of it! If she had the chance earlier, she would have abandoned her humanity so long ago!  
  
Judith Eydris was no longer some eye-candy for George Joestar to trade off. No longer was she bound by a need to survive by any other way than devouring the blood of others!  
  
She had ascended humanity and become Despair itself.  
  
It even helped in bed. Martha could cry out in pain all she liked, but Jude knew she liked being held down, bit, and thrown about like a toy. All because it came from Jude herself.  
  
However, it also helped in reminding Martha what to do when failure happened.  
  


\---

  
William Zeppeli would not deny that the knight Tarkus had become a scoundrel.  
  
His transformation into a zombie had stripped him of his humanity and all that was good about him. Just as it had with Zeppeli's own father, Tarkus was a slave to his own desires and spat upon all he was supposed to have stood for in life. Even if he harboured some of these feelings as a man, the beast itself was only those dark thoughts.  
  
It merely reminded Zeppeli of how there could be no good in the creations of the Stone Mask.  
  
Yet Bruford had somehow regained a semblance of his humanity. At his final moments, purified by JoJo's Ripple, he gave his sword to the victor to make their own.  
  
Only for Tarkus to then spit on his former friend's memory and crush his remains beneath his heel. The giant had laughed as he removed any trace of his comrade.  
  
When he turned to the group, it was only thanks to Zeppeli and JoJo's Life Magnetism Overdrive that they managed to create a glider of leaves to take them, Speedwagon, and Poco to safety. They had even spotted the outskirts of the Chamber of the Twin-Headed Dragon where the knights from centuries passed had trained.  
  
Only for Tarkus to leap and smash his way into the outer walls of the building.  
  
Everyone had agreed that they'd have to fight the fallen knight now. JoJo and Speedwagon didn't know reinforcements were arriving, but either way Tonpetty, Dire, and Straits would not arrive for hours at this point. Unless they wanted to let this zombie roam free and either attack Windknight's Lot or to return to Jude, they'd have to fight him.  
  
Zeppeli had also known that they had to be vigilant.  
  
 _But never had I never expected to see a sight like this!_ He wondered if his master Tonipetty had such visions. If he could have ever imagined such madness.  
  
All along the ground, from the entrance to the chamber to the insides of it, were the remnants of armour and flesh. The armour itself was a poor metal, with some of its coverings in white and others in black, but it seemed as if they had been dressed to appear as bears. They, of course, being Zombies who'd been torn to pieces.  
  
Zombies created from children. The oldest looking among them looking no greater than ten years.  
  
It had been a cruel realisation when first striking down these monsters with the Ripple. Jonathan's heart almost could not take the burden. It had taken Zeppeli's reminder of what becoming an inhuman creature meant that Jonathan had rallied. The only way a man like him would fight children was knowing the truth.  
  
Jude had murdered them long ago. All they were doing was letting their spirits rest in peace.  
  
JoJo had been quick to cover Poco's eyes from the sight and making him press his face against his back. That way, the boy wouldn't be able to smell it either. Speedwagon too was using all his willpower to hold back his tears and screams. Zeppeli feared that this was not the worst of Jude's work.  
  
But he also noticed what else was on the ground. He saw the rifles, pistols, swords, axes, and knives scattered around the place.  
  
Not to mention those weapons embedded all over Tarkus' body.  
  
Where his head might have been, there was only a slight crater and multiple smaller holes within that crater which could only be bullets.  
  
By the entrance of the chamber stood Martha. In her hands was likely the weapon that had destroyed Tarkus' brain. She was crouching slightly and had been standing to her side, as if she'd jumped back whilst shooting before. Zeppeli had first thought the sound of bullets had been a strange type of chain.  
  
Never did he imagine that it was a Maxim machine gun! The latest invention adopted by the British Army was now in her hands. One of their number must have been stolen at some point, but that couldn't be.  
  
How could such a powerful tool, capable of firing five hundred and fifty rounds a minute, have been reduced to such a size that Martha alone could hold it?!  
  
It must have been Jude. Both JoJo and Speedwagon had attested to her intelligence, but never had Zeppeli imagined that it'd be at this level.  
  
"Tarkus, are you so foolish as to think that Jude cared about you? As if she had ever seen as you more than one of a set?" Martha asked. She did not even give his corpse the grace of showing any feeling for what she had done. "'If Bruford or Tarkus fall in battle, make sure the other dies too. What's the point in bringing back Bruford and Tarkus if you don't have the complete set?' I believe those were her exact words."  
  
"Martha...you did all this?" JoJo asked. He stayed on-guard, although not enough for Zeppeli's liking.  
  
In reply, Martha turned to him. "JoJo, how long has it been? I feel as if we haven't had the chance to truly speak to one another since the day you discovered Jude's plan."  
  
"When we were young, I hated you for your violence and what you did to Danny. I cannot ignore that." Said Jonathan, gripping his hands. "But, even if you were pretending to be a man, I remember kind memories. Our time at Hugh Henderson Academy together, the lessons we took together, the common bond we shared. I know that was real to you. It's why I believe I can still save you from Judith's madness."  
  
"JoJo, I don't think you understand." Martha replied. A soft, yet terrible, smile came to her face and she held a hand over her heart. "I'm the one who Jude needs by her side. Otherwise she'll cry."  
  
"What?!" Speedwagon erupted more from disbelief than anger. "Judith Eydris; the woman who has caused suffering to dozens, if not hundreds of people, would weep over a single absence?!" He asked to which Martha laughed.  
  
"I know she needs me. For all the insults, beatings, and..." Martha turned red whilst JoJo and Speedwagon turned green. Zeppeli himself learnt to hide his disgust long ago. "Other things. She has no one who understands me. All the people in our childhood who'd compliment her and give all their attention to her never realised how shy she could be. It's why she likes to pretend she doesn't need me. But that's why she needs someone to protect her. To make sure she can be who she wants and be safe and happy. Her abilities isolate her from everyone but me.  
  
"I know you think that Jude corrupted me into incest, JoJo. So I'll say this," Martha's smile had grown both in size and in monstrosity. She looked up to the moon and spoke as softly as silk. "Our love is the purest love that Jude will ever know. Do not judge it when you have never seen her speak or act in bed, when we are alone and she does not have to hide her heart."  
  
It was easier for Zeppeli to hide his emotions after so many years of training and fighting. It did not mean that he didn't share in the urge to shudder like JoJo, or lack sympathy for Speedwagon struggling to keep himself from vomiting.  
  
 _How could one share a bed with a vampire, let alone one of your own blood and one like Jude, and think of it as capable of human kindness?_  
  
Zeppeli cut in at this point. He could theoretically understand monsters like Jude, but Martha only confused him. "What do you even want, Martha Cutler? Why is it that you're so blind to the truth of your sister? Is it so hard to believe that a woman killing to wipe out humanity does not care for you?" He asked.  
  
"What I want is for you to accept my challenge." She replied. Her demand took everyone by surprise, while she pointed behind her to the open door. "You will enter this Chamber and I will fight you all one on one. No guns and no traps. Only my knives and skills and your Ripple. We'll start with JoJo. He'll be the hardest to defeat."  
  
 _You might be right about it in the physical sense, but that's not what you mean, isn't it?_ Zeppeli had a keen eye. He noticed how Martha did her best to look away whenever JoJo tried to look her in the way. He could see the soft red glow on her cheeks whenever JoJo spoke, and even how she would speak to him with a gentler tone than the apathy she displayed to all others bar Jude.  
  
"JoJo, Mister Zeppeli, we shouldn't take this deal. It's a trick. Martha is probably planning to negate your advantages and cheat somehow. Even if she believes in honour, she treasures her lust for Jude more!" Speedwagon shouted. He regarded Martha with eyes filled with fear and loathing.  
  
"I've used all the pre-existing zombies outside the castle and much of my ammunition on Tarkus anyway. Not to mention that I have disabled the chain trap inside. Also, you shouldn't forget who else is with you. People who do not know how to fight for themselves." Martha raised the machine gun in her hands towards JoJo.  
  
No. She was aiming it at Poco. Even with its rate of fire, assuming she even had ammunition left, the chances of hitting him were small. But not small enough to justify the risk. Martha was already dangerous enough and this was their best chance at defeating her.  
  
There was no time to wait for the others either.  
  
"So we have no choice." Zeppeli said. He turned to his student and friend who had learnt so much in so little time. "JoJo, be prepared to fight for your life. Even with zombies assisting, for a human to strike a killing blow on one without the Ripple can only be done by one in a million men, if even that."  
  
Martha held up the machine gun and threw it down against a raised leg. The device broke in half with a crack and Martha threw both pieces onto the ground without a care. A marvel of technology, however much it could have been used to kill, and Martha simply tossed it aside.  
  
He suspected there were only a handful of things she would not do the same to.  
  
Zeppeli, however, did not fail to notice how uneasy JoJo seemed about this. Had this display of strength from Martha unsettled him? Maybe memories of the past were acting to hold him back? It may have been something else entirely, but Zeppeli worried on whether it would hold him back.  
  
 _If he hesitates, he will die._ At that very moment, Zeppeli was reminded of a memory from long ago. Back in Tibet, standing at the highest peaks of the earth, when he took Tonipetty's hand and learnt of his fate.  _Or perhaps it will be the time for the chains on the young lion to be broken.  
  
Your fate will be death._  
  
If that would be the case, and that the time for his destiny had come, then he would accept it.  
  


\---

  
Jonathan backed away from Martha's rightwards swipe, but quickly rallied and thrust Pluck, the sword granted to him by Bruford, forward and towards Martha's sternum. He should have put all his force into it to increase the speed of his strike. At the very least he should have infused his Ripple into it.  
  
Instead, however, he was too slow and Martha was able to leap up and land on the blade of the sword and use it to deliver a swift kick to his face. She used it as leverage to flip backwards, whilst Jonathan stumbled back and was barely able to correct himself.  
  
The two had been fighting against one another for ten minutes now. Jonathan's Ripple and the sword Pluck against Martha's one-in-a-million level of skill and her many knives and weapons littered about.  
  
 _All that time and neither one of us has gained the edge. Neither one of us can break the other._ JoJo winced as a particular cut to his left side began to sting.  _Well, Martha's certainly come close._  
  
Deep down, Jonathan knew why he hadn't been able to strike the killing blow.  
  
Some of it was understandable. Even with his Ripple, Jonathan was still slower than Martha by a fair margin. His height and weight that normally helped him in a fight were working against him. Martha could easily avoid his blows.  
  
Not only that, but she clearly had more training with weapons than him. Jonathan only knew of using a sword from what he'd seen of fencers, unsuited for a sword like Pluck, and of his fight with Bruford. Martha, on the other hand, clearly had knowledge of swords, maces, axes, morningstars, and even a javelin.  
  
The broken remnants of the weapons and the broken segments on the floor were a testament to that.  
  
But Jonathan had his own advantages! He was larger and had more reach than Martha when she was using her knives. He had systematically cut through her larger weapons and was clearly physically stronger than her, even before the Ripple. With its power, he should have been more than capable of defeating her, surely?!  
  
Had he not been able to strike her when all others could not?! How was it that Martha somehow reached a level of skill far beyond even a few months ago?  
  
"Martha, can you even hear me?! Do you even recognise this place as more than a battlefield? Am I nothing more than a threat to Jude?" He asked, desperate for an answer. Desperate for any sign that either Martha could be redeemed, or that she was just as much a monster that had to be put down. "Are you so determined to become a monster like her?"  
  
Martha did not respond. She had not said a word since the battle had begun. Instead, she was completely empty.  
  
When JoJo looked into her eyes, he saw no emotion. When he said her name, he saw no recognition. When he struck or defended himself, he saw no change. It was as if Martha had completely and utterly cut herself off from her own conscience! Her very sense of individuality had been lost!  
  
Martha Cutler had become nothing more than a moving weapon. She moved with greater speed and attacked with greater strength, but that came at the cost of her own humanity! Just as her sister had done so with the Stone Mask, so did she with nothing more than her own mind!  
  
"How is it that a human woman is at that level? I can see now how she managed to defeat Tarkus...but still!" Speedwagon's awe was shared by JoJo himself.  
  
"Just from looking at her stance, I can tell that you would need an army of men to fight her. A hundred men, at least!" Mister Zeppeli said. "But JoJo's Ripple potential should have turned the tide by now! Why does he hesitate to strike to kill!"  
  
"It's his bond." Speedwagon's despondency could have filled the entire room. "When Jude discarded her humanity, it freed JoJo from having to concern himself with memories. For her very existence was a threat! But Martha...I cannot count how many times those two must have fought and worked together! To cast aside seven years of brotherhood...his heart must be betraying him!"  
  
 _I wish it were only the bonds of family. If it were so, perhaps I could reach out to her, or simply prioritise the world._ JoJo gritted his teeth as he kept Pluck up. He had to keep Martha from exploiting an opening or any attention-slips.  _But it's more than that._  
  
Martha wore no armour and his strikes had managed to cut at her clothes to an obscene extent. Yet Jonathan paid more mind to the bruises he could see on her that littered her legs and waist. The deep bite marks on her neck and wrists. Even the sight of the red finger marks along her sides, the implications obvious, made him shudder with disgust and pity.  
  
He also remembered how Jude spoke and treated Martha back at the mansion. She had been abusive and cruel, repaying kindness and love, however warped, with an acidic tongue and physical abuse. All of this Martha took without losing any of her love.  
  
For all she hated her father, Martha was giving her soul to a woman who was no better!  
  
Martha Cutler was not just his sister by adoption...she was also an abused woman in need of help. The kind of woman that Jonathan found it hard to even think of striking! No matter how much his common sense and logic screamed at him to do so, he had to fight his instincts to do it.  
  
For how could he attack a fellow victim of Judith's madness?!  
  
"JoJo! You must put aside what Judith has done to her sister!" Mister Zeppeli cried out. Both he and Speedwagon had already formed a human shield for Poco. "If you hesitate for even a moment, she will take your life and the world will be doomed!"  
  
"I understand, Mister Zeppeli. I know the burden that is on my shoulders." JoJo charged ahead with Pluck and began to infuse it with his Ripple. Martha ran towards him at the same time, no doubt sensing an opportunity. "That is why I will not stop fighting until my last breath!"  
  
Martha's own state of absolute stoicism had worked against her! She moved mechanically and aimed her knife straight for Jonathan's throat. Just as he planned! For he then cast Pluck upwards and towards to intercept the knife. No doubt did Martha think that the blade would not meet hers in time. She was right.  
  
For instead, Jonathan's Ripple met with the metal of Martha's knife and began to melt it! Just as Jonathan knew it would.  
  
Martha dropped the knife and moved to sweep at Jonathan's leg with her own. Still too slow! Jonathan jumped in the air and managed to avoid it, whilst giving himself time to adjust Pluck's trajectory and plunge it downwards towards Martha. Unfortunately, she instantly began to dash back to the left so as to avoid it.  
  
The two engaged in their battle once more! Martha moved like a hornet, doing its best to sting whilst also quickly flying out the way of any harm, as Jonathan tried to drive her back. Martha was a tough opponent, her new mindset somehow letting her fight on equal terms with his Ripple, but he still did his best to strike the finishing blow.  
  
 _But I'm not!_ JoJo's mind roared. He had never felt such anger at himself before.  _I'm aiming to wound and not kill. I'm not doing all I can to defeat her no matter the cost. The memories of our childhood, the knowledge that she is a woman, the abuse she must have suffered from Jude...it's weakening my will!_  
  
He could even hear Speedwagon falling to the ground and smacking it with his fist. "Damnit! Is there nothing I can do to strengthen my friend's heart?"  
  
"If you enter the field of battle, she will kill you without even blinking." Mister Zeppeli explained. "Besides, JoJo may have to do this now. If he retreats, or fails to strike her without his mind filled with doubt, he will face that same hesitation when facing the woman he once called his little sister."  
  
"He sees her as a victim...even now..." Poco's whisper echoed across the room, but it was what he said next that made Jonathan's spine go cold. "I have an idea!"  
  
Jonathan's blood turned cold when he heard the sound of soft footsteps getting closed. He spun around and was horrified as Poco dashed head-first into the battle.  
  
"Poco! No! Stay back!" Speedwagon screamed as he tried to run after him, Mister Zeppeli quickly overtaking him. But neither would be fast enough to stop Martha, who simply threw a knife in his direction without even turning her head.  
  
Jonathan used every ounce of his speed and strength to make it in time. To throw up Pluck as a shield to hold the line against Martha's knife. She might have beaten him to Poco, but her throwing speed wasn't as quick. The knife quickly melted in the face of Jonathan's Ripple.  
  
He turned and looked down at Poco, trying his best to stay calm.  
  
"Poco, you have to stay back. I understand what you are trying to do, but this woman is..." Jonathan's voice trailed off. He finally understood, even down to the lowest pits of his subconscious.  
  
"Mister Joestar, you get it, right?" Poco asked. "I don't know what you two have been through, or what that vampire has done to her...but she's evil. Plain and true. Even if there's a part of her that may feel bad...she still did it! No questions asked! She's the one who helped Jude kidnap all those people, even my sister, and is helping her try to destroy everything."  
  
Jonathan finally got it.  
  
He had not been acting as a gentleman, but instead as a selfish man! He had put his own sense of honour and family first over the lives of the innocent! His weakness had forced Poco to charge on ahead and put himself in danger just to make him see it. His father would have been ashamed if he'd seen him now.  
  
Could he truly go soft on Martha, when she was willing to take the life of a child without the slightest bit of doubt?  
  
 _Well no more! I will not allow Jude to destroy the world and nor will I allow you to enable it!_ Jonathan moved up from his kneeling position and stood tall.  _I will-_  
  
"JoJo!" Speedwagon's scream caught his attention.  
  
Jonathan turned in time to find another knife flying at him. Curses! He had spent too long in thought and not enough on keeping an eye on Martha. He could even sense the trajectory of the blade itself. The slightest opening where she could hit Poco without it having to go through Jonathan.  
  
At its current distance, he had no time to use Pluck and instead flung his hand out and caught the knife with it. He winced at the cut skin along his fingers and palm, but had no time to dwell on it. He could see Martha charging right at him.  
  
She jumped forward with an incredible height and swiftness. Reeling her leg back, she slammed it against his neck.  
  
Jonathan couldn't use the Ripple! His breathing had been disrupted and now he was open to an attack. Martha had yet another knife in hand and pulled her arm back to ready for the single cut. Jonathan threw up his arms to protect his neck and head and readied to do his best to dodge the attack.  
  
As he dashed back, however, his spirit rallied at the sound of a familiar saviour.  
  
"Sendo Wave Kick!" Mister Zeppeli shouted as his kick missed its mark, but its strength more than enough to drive Martha back. He turned his head back to Jonathan and said, "Use Ripple to treat your wound. Any weakness will be exploited by her. So let's give her a new opponent and let me deal with her for now."  
  
Jonathan was a forced-spectator as he corrected his breathing and did his best to heal his injury. The knife had gotten in deeper than he thought, the blood much darker than the last time he had such a wound, and healing with the Ripple was harder than it seemed. Controlling his breathing was difficult whilst watching Mister Zeppeli fight.  
  
Martha had multiple knife holsters tied to her body, and more knives that were simply tied to her clothes, which gave her the chance to always have one on hand. However, Mister Zeppeli had years of experience with the Ripple. He could dodge the knives and close distance easily.  
  
Just as he avoided her attacks, Martha was barely managing to avoid his. This was a true Ripple Master at work! He had none of Jonathan's earlier hesitation and was instead striking fast and true.  
  
Ripple did not burn people as much as it did the undead, but it still left its marks. Bright red patches emerged all over Martha's body where Mister Zeppeli's attacks were a mere hair from hitting skin. Even as Martha avoided being hit directly, he was still slowing her down.  
  
This was the battle between a killer and a fighter. A woman who had discarded all but her instincts and focus, and a man who was dedicated to the righteous path!  
  
Martha's focus appeared to be her downfall too! She was so preoccupied with fighting Mister Zeppeli that she neglected to realise he was backing her towards one of the very gaps on the stone floor she created. A trap set to throw Martha off her game.  
  
She had focused herself entirely on the battle. There was nothing in her eyes but the enemy and herself.  
  
But that was wrong! She was too focused on how to kill her enemy now and it cost her the fight! Even if she knew where Mister Zeppeli was leading her, she could not do anything. His attacks left no opening but to go backwards and onto the path of defeat!  
  
Just as Jonathan thought this, Martha took the final step and her left foot landed on one of the potholes! It was over!  
  
"Well done, Mister Zeppeli! Show her how it's done!" Speedwagon raised a fist in support.  
  
"Try this, Martha Cutler!" Mister Zeppeli pulled one of his legs back whilst stretching out the other until the tip of his shoes were pointed down at her. Then, somehow, he began to spin. "Tornado Kick!"  
  
Mister Zeppeli now resembled a tornado of Ripple energy. There was enough energy to tear through even Jude's Body Freezing Technique! The spinning motion would have prevented her from getting a grip on him unless she moved in a spiral as well.  
  
Against Martha? The battle was won.  
  
So why wasn't Martha reacting? She simply stood there staring without a single reaction. Jonathan felt his unease grow more and more, even as his wound healed, as Mister Zeppeli drew closer with blinding light and-  
  
Martha vanished.  
  
 _What?! Where did she go? How could she even move that fast?_ Jonathan looked around for Martha and saw nothing. Until he saw it. The shadow that hovered just behind Mister Zeppeli, who realised too late what she was doing.  
  
Somehow, she had managed to leap to the roof, just as Mister Zeppeli's Tornado Kick had robbed everyone of their vision, and was descending just behind him. She placed her hand just in front of his neck, holding a knife.  
  
Jonathan was already rushing towards him to help. "Mister Zeppeli-!"  
  
The blade cut through the flesh deep enough that the blood burst out from the opening. The force and speed were more like a rifle.  
  
"JoJo..." Mister Zeppeli could only whisper, as blood poured down from his mouth and neck, extending a hand to reach out to him.  
  
Martha seemed ready to finish the job and plunge the knife into his back. Just as Jude had done with Jonathan's father. But he was quicker this time.  
  
"Get away from him!!!" With but a single mighty swing with Pluck, Jonathan sent Martha flying back even without striking her. With the space he needed, he held Mister Zeppeli in his arms, Speedwagon and Poco unable to move closer themselves. The tears were already gathering in his eyes. "Mister Zeppeli, no!"  
  
Mister Zeppeli, however, did not let him speak but instead grasped his hand tightly. "JoJo...now is not the time to grieve,"  
  
They had to be quick, no matter how much it pained Jonathan's heart. Martha was approaching.  
  
"Mister Zeppeli! JoJo! Please! You have to fight and survive!" Speedwagon begged. He was forced to keep his distance, as he threw Poco behind him while he acted as a human shield for the boy.  
  
"For now, I give you my ultimate technique!" Mister Zeppeli's eyes widened and he breathed in. The fact that he was even breathing at all, let alone speaking, was a true testament to his willpower! "JoJo, take up my torch, and the torches of all those who fight against these creatures of darkness! Save this world from despair! And do it, with my Ultimate Deep Pass Overdrive!!!"  
  
In a flash, Jonathan felt the energy rushing into his body. It was overwhelming! It was as if the Ripple he'd been using before was but a match compared to the fires of the sun itself!  
  
He felt the power bursting through his veins. He felt his righteous fury at the murder of his friend explode within him. He now had the power, and need, to stop the Stone Mask's evil wherever it lied!  
  
He could feel the hope for tomorrow shining through!  
  
That same light engulfed him like a beacon. Speedwagon covered both his and Poco's eyes while Martha, for the first time in this fight, made a noise by gasping and withdrew. Jonathan, however, was unaffected by the light and neither was Mister Zeppeli.  
  
Yet the technique itself had left Mister Zeppeli's body old and withered. The youth brought by the Ripple was now gone.  
  
"With all my life energy, JoJo, I know this will turn the tide. I know that the chains that weighed your heart down are gone." He whispered. The blood was no longer pouring down his neck, but that was more because there was little left to drain. "Do not blame yourself for my death. I have known that I would die this way since my training ended...and I have felt her power for myself. She is, without a doubt, the strongest human on the planet and yet among the most pitiful.  
  
Even if you should have abandoned your hesitation for her before..." Mister Zeppeli paused for a moment. He closed his eyes and sighed. "We have no time to grieve or blame ourselves. I am not without fault; for I abandoned my wife and family on my quest to destroy the mask. You must be the one to destroy the Mask and defeat Jude. If you do that, then any guilt you may feel shall be absolved, for I will have gone to Heaven a man with no regrets and with great pride. For you- my student, my son, my best friend, and my hope- would be the one...who...saved the world...who I live on inside..."  
  
And so, Mister Zeppeli closed his eyes and passed on.  
  
Poco wept into Speedwagon's chest, as the man himself began to shed tears, whilst Jonathan's body began to shake  
  
"Mister Zeppeli!" Speedwagon screamed at the top of his lungs and wept along with Poco. Jonathan wanted nothing more than to join the two.  
  
 _No. I cannot cry. Not now._ Jonathan stood tall once more and turned to face Martha. He glared at her and his eyes showed no signs of the earlier mercy. It seemed as if her vision had returned as well. But that didn't matter.  _For I now must end this! Right here and now, I will not stop until the Stone Mask is no more!_  
  
Once more, Jonathan exploded with light. The Ripple formed an aura of sorts around him, his shirt was destroyed, and Jonathan felt none of his former weakness that had led to this moment.  
  
The lion was unchained.  
  
Speedwagon couldn't contain his awe. "A-Amazing! Mister Zeppeli's final moments has given JoJo power like never before! His body can barely contain it!"  
  
"Martha, however scarred you were by your past, and however much I may pity you, I will never forget the truth that I tried to ignore." Jonathan jabbed a finger at Martha's direction and pierced Pluck into the ground. The blade, infused with Ripple, was firmly lodged into the floor, as Jonathan chose to settle this with his fists and Ripple along. "A woman or not. A victim or not. You still willingly sold your soul to Jude the same as the likes of Jack and Tarkus. The blood of the innocent lays on the hand the same as Jude! You have been twisted by despair the same as Jude!"  
  
He breathed in and got back into a fighting position.  
  
"Come, Martha!" He shouted. "Let us finish this here and now, as I avenge Mister Zeppeli against my foolishness and your bloodlust!"  
  
Martha rushed forward without even blinking. Jonathan did the same.  
  
The true fight had begun.  
  


\---

_  
That speed. That power._ Martha stumbled back and shook her hands in a vain attempt to ward off the burns again. Once more, she failed.  _How...How could a human ever reach Jude's level?!_  
  
Martha had pushed herself to this state. She had cut herself off from her emotions and froze everything but what she needed to fight. The world itself became no more than Martha and those Martha was trying to kill. It was like time had come to a stand-still.  
  
In a way, she too had rejected her humanity. Only rather than a vampire, she had become a machine. Cold, unthinking, but capable of tearing through any human as if they were nothing.  
  
The only reason she hadn't killed Jonathan within the first few seconds of the fight had been because of his immense power from this 'Ripple'. Instead, she had been slowly beating him back. Even that Zeppeli person hadn't been able to overcome her speed and tenacity. His Tornado Kick was indeed powerful enough to defeat even Jude's Body Freezing Technique.  
  
But for someone like Martha, in that state, all she saw were the openings to kill him with. She was not bound by the chains of emotion or memories as Jonathan had been.  
  
Yet it seemed that Martha had shattered those chains after killing Zeppeli.  
  
Jonathan had become better, faster, and stronger. It was as if he had somehow ascended to Martha's fighting ability without even having to lock away everything but his fighting instinct and ability. Rather, his emotions and heart were what drove him on to keep fighting.  
  
All of Martha's knives had melted. Jonathan hadn't even needed his sword. He was content to stab it against the ground and use only his fists. Martha hadn't thought of him as a fool, for she had discarded the capacity to think such thoughts, and only saw the necessary cuts to disable his hands.  
  
They did nothing. The second they even made contact with his Ripple, they melted from the transmission and easily channelled up to her arm. No matter what Martha did, or where she managed to strike even the slightest blow, she could do nothing.  
  
She might as well have been trying to look into the sun.  
  
Martha's instincts had told her that this fight could no longer be won. Taking hostages wouldn't work if JoJo could beat her to it. The most she could do was break out of her state and find a way to escape back to Jude and warn her.  
  
But that had failed when JoJo intercepted her.  
  
"Martha! I will not let you escape!" JoJo declared. "You've had too many chances to surrender. But I know you never will. You will never betray Jude, will you?!"  
  
 _I can't betray her! Otherwise she'll have no one!_ Martha readied herself for the next barrage. This time, however, she moved her hand for the pistol by her back.  _JoJo, you'll never understand. I'm the only one she has left. I'm the one who has to give her a happy life. Not our mother who died, not our father who was a swine, and not even George Joestar who used a switch if one failed their lessons. Just me. That's why, no matter how many times she bites, or hits, or yells at me, I'll do as she says, because..._  
  
Martha had to resort to 'cheating'. By the left wall she had left a copy of the handheld Maxim that Jude had given her. It was her only chance at turning this battle around. She at least had some of her speed left and managed to reach it in time.  
  
JoJo was only a few metres away from her when she jumped to the left and aimed.  
  
 _We're sisters who shared the same womb! It's my destiny to walk down the same path as her! I am the older sister who has to protect her from this cruel world! I am the one who must throw away everything for the sake of her!_  
  
That's why she had to bury it all again. Bury the memories of the past seven years, her pride when winning at rugby, shooting, and her work, and bury her happiness when JoJo and she would smile together, even when built on a lie. She even buried the twinge of guilt when remembering Danny.  
  
Why? That was simple.  
  
So that she could be the woman that her mother always wanted her to be!  
  
Martha put her finger on the trigger and-  
  
Jonathan was truly fast. She wondered when he had moved so quickly that she hadn't noticed until the side of his hand tore through the middle of the handheld Maxim and cleaved it in half just above her wrist. Even after dropping it quickly enough, it still burnt her hand slightly.  
  
"Faster than the human eye!" Speedwagon screamed in admiration.  
  
"Martha, I can allow no trace of Jude's existence to remain. I will be the one to banish her evil spirit from this world. And if that means I must end your life as well," JoJo sounded so mournful and yet so determined. Martha wondered if this was truly the end. "Then that is what I shall do!"  
  
She had to ready herself. She kicked at the ground nearby and prayed it was what she thought it was. Yes! A knife! It was a one in a million shot, but she could still do it! All she had to do was disrupt his breathing or blood-flow. A cut on the wrist should do it. The risk was there, but it was do or die now!  
  
"JOJO!!!" Martha howled like a wolf and rushed forward in her last desperate attempt to win. Her final roll of the dice!  
  
She never got close. Both of JoJo's fists landed straight on her face. Then his right hit her on the chest. His left on her right shoulder. Then she felt being hit on her left leg, her right leg, her left arm, then the chest again, her head, right arm, left arm, her legs, her arms, her chest, her head. Everywhere.  
  
"Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!" JoJo's scream was only heard by Martha after the final blow to her chest.  
  
Martha flew across the room and crashed against the wall. Flesh was embedded into stone and she felt her bones crack and blood gush from her mouth. After a few seconds of a red river coming from her mouth, the pace of bleeding managed to slow down.  
  
She couldn't stop her vision from fading, however.  
  
JoJo already had his back to her, with one hand on the side, and only then deigning to look back at her with a slight turn of his head.  
  
"It's over! JoJo's won! Mister Zeppeli is avenged!" Speedwagon cried out at the top of his voice. He and the child were already by his side, but now had adopted a less spirited tone. "JoJo, we must give Mister Zeppeli a proper farewell. It's what he deserves before we go after Jude."  
  
Jude? Yes, they would be going for Jude next. But the thought of them actually doing so? With that kind of power?  
  
"No..." Martha tugged with all her might and her right arm was freed. It made it slightly easier to pull out her other limbs. "No...I won't...let you...."  
  
Of the three others, Speedwagon was the first to react as always. "Wh-What?!" He asked. He took a step back and threw an arm over the boy to protect him. "How could she still be standing after JoJo's Sunlight Yellow Overdrive? Is she truly some sort of reincarnation of the god of war?!"  
  
It was just under her feet. The last knife. She picked it up, barely able to turn a scream from the pain into a groan, and ran towards JoJo. Or rather, she stumbled trying to run and settled for a job.  
  
Martha thought back to what JoJo and Zeppeli had done. Those subtle breathes and how they positioned their bodies. Was this how the Ripple worked? Was it so impossible for Martha to use it for herself?  
  
"I-Impossible!" Speedwagon howled as Martha picked up the pace. She felt a soft, crackling energy along her arm and knife as she approached JoJo. "Just from two battles...she has managed to manifest Ripple?! Despite her injuries...she truly is one of humanity's strongest!"  
  
Whatever energy Martha felt, however, died when she felt her throat constrict and she had to swallow down a cough that was more blood than air. There was nothing for it; her body had failed her. So it fell to the knife alone to make its mark.  
  
She swung to the right and JoJo dodged it. She went for the left and was dodged again. Three times she made to stab his chest and each time he avoided it.  
  
An entire minute she tried to hit him. An entire minute she forced herself to swallow down the pain and fight on. Exhaustion and her injuries were catching up and she still fought on.  
  
But it also still did nothing.  
  
"I won't...I can't..." She was fighting to get every word out. It was a waste of valuable energy, but she couldn't help it. "I won't let you hurt Judith!"  
  
"No...I was wrong. She isn't the god of war. Not anymore. But even as her bones break and her organs fail, she's still fighting! Fighting for her sister even as she's dying." Speedwagon of all people was now crying out of pity for her. He put a hand over his face. "She murdered Mister Zeppeli, but even Speedwagon can respect that true loyalty! But why? Are the bonds of family truly that important?"  
  
"Have to..." Martha's sense of restraint had been lost along with much of her blood. "I promised her... I promised....Mother....that I'd...protect her."  
  
How long ago must it have been? Martha must have hit her head harder on the wall than she thought. She couldn't even remember when it was.  
  
But she would never forget what was said.  
  
 _"Martha, I do not know how long I will last. By tomorrow, I'll surely be dead." Mary Eydris said. She always looked so gentle yet strong, even with a constant black eye, but only now did she seem feeble._  
  
 _"B-But why? Why do you have to go?" Martha rubbed her eyes as she sat by her mother's bed. "Why won't Father do anything? Why does he hurt you like this?"_  
  
 _"His judgement will come. Only God can decide that." Her mother simply replied. Her hand moved up to hold her own. "Martha, I need you to promise me something."_  
  
 _"What is it?"  
  
"Your sister. Judith. I know you care for her deeply. I know she feels the same, even if she hides it with cruel words and acts. You even hide them from me so I won't punish her." Tears came to the mother's eyes to match the daughter's. "I can see it, Martha. I see her eyes filled with suffering and despair. She knows everything and yet values nothing. Her insight and intelligence numb her to the joys of life and endears her to pain because it is unexpected."  
  
"What should I do? Every time I try to be a good big sister, she just yells at me or calls me names or gets me in trouble with Father." Martha asked. Surely her mother would know. She knew everything.  
  
"You have to protect her, Martha. That child is plagued by despair. Your father will turn his abuse onto you and I fear she'll become a monster like him." Mary Cutler Eydris then tightened her grip on Martha's hand. "Promise me, Martha. Promise me that you will protect Judith and be a good big sister to me. That you won't let her get hurt and that you'll both live admirable lives. That neither of you will become like your father. Most of all, promise me that you won't let be her alone."  
  
"Mother." She couldn't see from all the tears.  
  
"Promise me, Martha." Mother begged. Her eyes pleading for a positive answer so to go to Heaven in peace.  
  
Martha sniffed, but then said, "I promise. I promise I'll protect her. Just as I've always been doing." She found the energy to speak and the words came flying out from her. "I won't ever hurt her. And I'll be the best big sister I can be. Whatever she wants, I'll make sure she has it. I won't let anyone hurt her, because if they try, I'll hurt them first. That's what you want. Right, Mama?"  
  
There was no answer. There would never be an answer again.  
  
Martha wept over her corpse. She must have spent minutes, hours, or something between the two. Until her father returned home, grabbed her by the hair, and threw her aside. He screamed at her to leave and that he wanted to get drunk now that 'the bitch had died'.  
  
It was the first time she'd ever been taken by surprise. It was also the closest she'd ever come to killing him.  
  
Had he ever hit Jude, even months after their mother's death, she would have done it. Now more than ever, she had become resolute in the vow she'd just made.  
  
Instead she left the room and found Jude waiting by the door, where she hugged her tightly, and cried into her shoulder.  
  
She wasn't pushed away this time.  
  
A few days later, after Martha refused to leave her bedroom, she heard about Jude building a sandcastle..._  
  
"My mother always told us to live nobly and with pride to make it to Heaven. I always dreamed of us spending eternity together." Martha whispered. She glared and readied her knives once more. "So that's why I won't stop fighting. I have to stop you, JoJo. I promised Mother, and I promised myself, that I would never let Judith be hurt and that she'd always know happiness! Me! No one else can give her that. JoJo, you may admire your father, but I'm afraid that after what he did for Dario, and how he treated you in those early days...I can't respect him."  
  
Martha's mind was willing but her body was broken. She crumbled to the floor and barely managed to land on her knees.  
  
"That's why...I can't die..." She summoned all of her power, every last bit of it, to get up from the floor and fight again. "I'll discard my humanity entirely for her. Jude, if you can hear me, I'm telling the truth. My humanity is nothing compared to spending forever with you! It can be just the two of us and you'll have the Despair you wanted after purging humanity, right?! Our dreams can finally come true!"  
  
Martha was silent after that. The entire room was engulfed in quiet. No one said a word for what seemed like an eternity; an eternity about to be shattered as JoJo opened his mouth to say something.  
  
But he was interrupted. The wall which Martha had collided into burst into rubble and out came a squadron of tiny bears. She recognised them as Jude's underlings and so did nothing to stop them from grabbing her and running. She didn't even have the strength to fight back against their tight grip if she wanted to.  
  
JoJo reached out a hand to try and fight off the bears but stopped. It seemed that he decided to put burying his teacher and getting the child to safety over all else.  
  
That was fine. Because Martha just heard the most beautiful sound in the world.  
  
"Martha, come to my mansion." Jude's voice was softer than usual. Far softer in fact. "When your wounds are healed, we'll meet JoJo in my room, and then we can end this together. Together. Do you think that's even possible for you, Martha? Or maybe I should get one of my zombies to do it? You stink, you're stupid, and you look like a baboon's butt. If you can't fight or follow orders, then what's the point?"  
  
In response to her sister's cruel words, Martha merely giggled. "I'll be there, Judith. I'll always be there for you."  
  
Jude said nothing to that. She didn't need to. So Martha was happy to let the zombies carry her away and back to the castle where Jude would be waiting for her. They may have needed human flesh to survive, but none of them would disobey a command from Jude. They were just here to take her home.  
  
Where was home? It was obvious.  
  
Home was where Jude was.


	5. Golden Slumber

**Arc One: Phantom Ronpa**

****Chapter Five: Golden Slumber** **

  
\---  


_“I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air.”_

\- Bram Stoker,  _Dracula_

\---

  
"Look who's come to see us, Martha." Jude's smile was strange to Jonathan. It had been so long since he'd seen such gentility on her face. This time, it felt genuine. "It's JoJo."  
  
Jonathan had reached Judith's room, after having just saved Poco's sister from being devoured by a zombie, expecting some sick, macabre display of her evil. Something to sicken him and make him all the more inspired to fight against her. He had steeled his heart for whatever she had in store.  
  
When he opened the door, however, he was shocked to find something entirely different.  
  
Much of Martha's torso and limbs were wrapped in bandages that served as clothing. She had a loose, unbuttoned black shirt and a skirt of the same colour, but nothing more. She laid in the arms of Judith with her back against her chest. Her eyes, however, were cloudy and barely seemed to take note of Jonathan or the Ripple Masters behind him.  
  
All she did was lay in Jude's embrace. Jude herself was different as well.  
  
It reminded him of how she'd been- or rather who she pretended to be- before all this had happened.  
  
"She told me everything, JoJo. About how you gave Bruford Hope in the end, and all about how you avenged your dear mustached friend. Sorry, but I can't be bothered to remember his name." Jude said. Her delicate words still ignited a burst of anger within Jonathan.  
  
"What are you planning, Jude?" He asked, although he stayed where he was. They could have set up a trap for him.  
  
"In the end, that girl turned me down." Jude said, ignoring him, and talking about Poco's sister for some reason. Then, out of nowhere, mushrooms were appearing on her head! "Am I really so unattractive? Am I just super-weird and girls think I'm ugly? It's not fair. All I have is you, Martha." She said.  
  
"And I'm all you need. Just as you're all I need." Martha said. She struggled in doing so, but managed to put a hand to Jude's left cheek.  
  
"Am I? Am I all you need?" Jude looked up at Jonathan, but he knew she was only talking to Martha right now. "Would you even give away your humanity for me?"  
  
"Of course. I've already given everything to you. All that is left now... if my humanity." Martha's words immediately set off alarm bells in Jonathan's head.  
  
No! He couldn't allow it! Not when they were so close to finishing all this.  
  
"Jude! Don't you try it!" Jonathan shouted. He could sense the trepidation and fear from the Ripple Masters behind him.  
  
"If she is allowed to create another Vampire, I fear not even our numbers will be enough." Tonpetty murmured.  
  
"It's worse than that!" Speedwagon replied. He shook as he pointed to the sisters "Martha's maximum strength and speed was enough to defeat even Mister Zeppeli! If she were to gain the might and speed of a vampire on top of that...it'll all be over!"  
  
Jude had the Stone Mask in hand. All she had to do was put it into Martha's face and bleed onto it. Then the world would be doomed! Two Vampires, especially those two, couldn't be defeated if they called upon their zombie minions in time!  
  
But Jude was too close to Martha and Jonathan was too far away to stop it. He could only watch as Jude span Martha in place and looked her in the eye.  
  
"Y'know, I thought making you dress like a boy would make everyone tell us apart. But it didn't. We were still the twins and thought of as a greater whole. As if we were each half of a person." She spoke without her usual energy. Instead, she seemed...wistful. "Martha, you're asking for eternity."  
  
"All I've ever wanted was for you to be happy." Martha replied. She was struggling to stay up, still nursing her wounds from Jonathan's battle with her. "We're the only ones to understand each other. Once I put on that mask, we will have all infinity to spend with each other."  
  
Jonathan had to do something. He would not just stand there and wait for the end to come. But what could he do?!  
  
 _Is this it? Is this the end of humanity? Are we to fall to the mad and sick love between these two sisters?_ Jonathan had to do something! He readied his sword and took the first step forward.  
  
"Martha, I know you've always wanted to hear these four words from me. So here they are," Jude leaned in until she was right besides Martha's right ear and raised the Stone Mask in her hand. "Martha..."  
  
"Jude!!!" Jonathan cried out as he rushed forward, knowing that the fate of the world rested on his speed.  
  
"We have to stop her!" Speedwagon and Dire both called out as they started to move to follow him.  
  
"Wait!" Tonpetty shouted. He held up a hand and that was enough to slow Jonathan down.  
  
Time slowed to a crawl. Jonathan saw Jude's gentle smile and knew that Martha could see the same. Her final sight as a human would be the face of the sister she had always wanted.  
  
It was a single instant of honest affection. There was no abuse or need to bully her. If they were not sisters, planning for one to wear the Stone Mask, and this was not Jude being discussed, Jonathan might have thought it pure and loving.  
  
But then it changed.  
  
The hand bringing the Stone Mask up stopped and instead she pushed up with her other hand. The hand that was resting on Martha's chest and was now going into it. Jude's smile thinned and lengthened across her face; a familiar cruelty returned.  
  
Jonathan did not need to see her face to know that Martha was shocked. That she felt a deep sense of horror and anguish at not just the pain of the hand piercing her chest, but the fact that Jude was doing this. That Jude was the one killing her.  
  
And just like that, it was as if time returned to its normal pace.  
  
"JUST FUCKING DIE!" Jude's right hand, the one without the Stone Mask, went completely through Martha's chest and out the other end.  
  
It was holding Martha's heart.  
  
Jonathan, who had been about to run at full speed, stopped in his tracks and was frozen solid. Speedwagon cried out in panic and the Ripple Masters were on their guard, but it was Martha who reacted first. Martha who had been betrayed and murdered.  
  
She raised her hand again to hold Judith's cheek, but her words couldn't hide her confusion or sense of betrayal. "Judith...this doesn't make sense...why me?"  
  
She wasn't even given an answer.  
  
Ice spread around her body and encompassed her whole. It was too thick for Jonathan to break through in time to save her, even if he could have reached her in time. He felt had the Body Freezing Technique's effect on his hand and seen Mister Zeppeli's arm. All he could do was watch Martha whimper in confusion before even her head was encased in ice.  
  
Martha had died the moment she was covered in it completely.  
  
Jonathan barely heard Jude crush Martha's heart in hand when surrounded by suffocating silence.  
  
There was not even a moment to observe the sick display. For Jude shot out her hands, grabbed Martha by the sides, and twisted her body to throw out the tomb of ice out of the window and over the balcony. Jonathan saw the ice disappear from sight and fall to the ground.  
  
A loud shattering nose echoed and yet there was nothing but quiet at that moment. Until Jude broke it.  
  
"This doesn't make sense?" Jude once again seemed to have no emotion. Yet, as if a match had been put to gunpowder, she exploded. "Martha, you goddamn idiot! That's the point! Despair is illogical! Despair is unfeeling! Despair doesn't give a shit what you promised some bitch who droned on about Heaven! It's a mess! It's confusion! Love, hate, and everything else is swallowed up by Despair! It's the sensation that even I can't predict! Who the hell wants to spend an eternity with the same person?! How could you claim to be the only one to understand me, if you can't even understand Despair?!"  
  
Jude laughed half-way through her rambling. It was loud and cruel and supposed to be familiar and yet was somehow darker and crueller than ever before. She wrapped her arms around herself and bent over cackling.  
  
"This is it! The high I've been searching for since that day! Is there anything greater than killing someone so close to your heart? My older sister who did everything for me? Who just wanted me to be happy and give me whatever I wanted? Have any of you ever felt a despair like this for a loved one?!" She turned her head to them and smiled. "Oh, you know Daddy doesn't count, right? JoJo?"  
  
Jonathan did not visibly react.  
  
Martha had been killed. The woman who sacrificed everything for Judith was killed by her very hand.  
  
Without hesitation, Jude had cast aside her twin and only true companion. And for what? A temporary high? The joy of having committed yet another murder?  
  
"To laugh at the death of your own sister...someone who was willing to dedicate themselves to you..." Speedwagon seemed conflicted on whether he feared or hated her more. "Judith Eydris is truly a monster like none other! Without an ounce of misery in her heart, she laughs joyfully at Martha's death!"  
  
Tonpetty held out a hand, as if to hold back the tide of emotion. "No! Speedwagon, look at her again." He said, pointing at her face. "Look at her tears."  
  
Yes...Jonathan could see it! Glistening under the moonlight, there it was! The tears that ran down Jude's face as she laughed. She not just laughing in joy at her sister's passing, but also weeping for it.  
  
"I can sense it, Speedwagon. She does not feel joy, but despair! Despair at having taken the life of the woman who stood by her no matter what. But also despair at realising the distance between her and her sister." Tonpetty explained. "But that is what makes it worse! For she is not embracing her deeds by themselves, but the very despair she feels over it!"  
  
"You're a smart man!" Jude said kindly. She pointed to her tears and laughed yet again. "These tears represent the last of my humanity. When they dry, and after I kill you, there will be nothing left to tie me to my pitiful humanity. The days of being quiet and demure are gone! I am Judith Eydris and I will become Despair itself! What do you say to that, JoJo!!"  
  
Jonathan remained silent. He stared at where Martha had stood, just a handful of seconds ago, and still couldn't believe it.  
  
The woman he once called brother, and then sister, was now dead.  
  
He could never truly forgive her for what she had done. Her sins had piled on too much and she had never made the effort to redeem herself for them. Only if she had done so, would Jonathan have found it in his heart to welcome her back in.  
  
But that did not mean she lacked virtue! Jonathan remembered how she fought on in the Chamber of the Dual-Headed Dragon, even as her body broke down, and was clearly outmatched. He remembered her sincere love for Jude and willingness to do whatever it took.  
  
Above all else, he remembered his life with Marcus Cutler.  
  
"Martha, you were not a good sister." Jonathan said. He could not ignore the truth. "Rather than help cure your sister of her madness, you merely accepted it. Rather than correct her when she did evil, you merely aided it. Rather than protect her, you enabled her to go this far. I do not know why you felt as if she was your master and not your younger sister. I doubt I will ever know.  
  
"But still!" His grip on Pluck tightened and he had to fight to hold back his tears. "You _were_  my sister! For seven years, you were a part of my family and I may have called you brother, but my heart was true! And you loved your sister! You let it become a sick and twisted thing, but you still loved her! You did everything you could for her and your feelings were true. Only for Jude to then spit and smash it apart. To cast you down when your hope was at its peak!  
  
"Jude!" He roared. "What I am about to say is not what a gentleman should ever say, especially to a woman." With a sharp glare that might have ill-suited him, he spoke lowly and dangerously. "But I will kill you without hesitation, so that my anger will finally be satisfied."  
  
Judith now fully turned to face him. She had the face of an addict who had just found a supply of his vice to last a lifetime, confident and supreme whilst also slightly pathetic. She opened her mouth and only foulness came out.  
  
"Upupupupu..." She burst out into a large smile and held out her arms as if to embrace him. "There's the face I've always wanted to see. All determined and willing to punish me. To hold me down and make me know what true pain is. You are the last and greatest Hope for humanity. Just witnessing you in action would inspire the common man. So that'll make it all the better for when I destroy you.  
  
"JoJo, I'm going to turn you into a zombie when I'm through with you," Jude said. Her eyes held something perverse in them as she added, "And I'll show you just how great Despair can be."  
  
The two sides faced each other down. Both were bursting with energy as they prepared for the showdown seven years in the making. Judith Eydris, the architect of all of Jonathan's misery since the day they met, and Jonathan Joestar who never gave in to her evil.  
  
It had been his fault that she discovered the power of the Stone Mask. Now was his chance to make it right again.  
  
She had killed so many thanks to it. Father, Bruford, Zeppeli, and now even Martha had been the victims of her ambitions.  
  
 _All of them will be avenged this night, Jude!_ Jonathan readied his blade and prepared to strike.  _This is the day I send you down to Hell!_  
  


\---

  
"That was a fun warm-up." Jude cracked her shoulders and tried blinking her right eye. Nope. It got hit pretty good. "Dire, was it? To think that such a idiot who'd open himself to my Body Freezing Technique would wound me! He even used his own decapitated head! I never even saw it coming! JoJo, you've made some fun friends."  
  
A lovely chorus sang across the battlefield as the doors of Jude's room broke apart and allowed her zombies to enter the room. Much of them were donations from Windknight's Lot, but others were her little bears come to life!  
  
"Too bad they're all going to be torn to shreds!" She couldn't wait for when the first one would die.  
  
Would it be the child and his sister? Or maybe one of the Ripple-users would die protecting them? No, more like Ripple-user. That Tonpetty man was more than willing to die to protect them, but Jude saw the envy and hunger in the long-haired man's eyes. The slight awe he had felt when she slew his friend so easily.  
  
The jealousy of her might that he was so ashamed to have felt for that one second.  
  
But that was for later. Right now, she was facing down JoJo and Speedwagon on the balcony of her castle. She stood on top of the ledge and regarded both of them with a keen left eye.  
  
Her right eye was still recovering from Dire's attack.  
  
"JoJo, be careful. Jude has the speed of a leopard and the power to crush bones with a single punch." Speedwagon warned. "Martha was a master of fighting instinct, but Jude is a master of strategy. I have faith in you, and in Mister Zeppeli's life energy, but be careful. Victory will go to whoever strikes the first blow!"  
  
Jude and JoJo looked one another in the eye. Neither of them were human anymore. No matter what JoJo thought, he had surpassed their level long ago.  
  
A single stomp of his foot felt as if the world itself was shaking. He had become as much a force of nature as she did through nothing more than his own talents. He was ultimate compared to the common man.  
  
So of course Jude would have to kill him in a dramatic fashion. She leapt into the sky and prepared to claw out his throat.  
  
"JoJo, I'll suck out all the blood from you as I did Martha." Jude hissed as she drew closer.  
  
"It's time to extinguish your evil once and for all!" Jonathan replied.  
  
From his pocket, he threw out a collection of roses. If he thought he'd match Dire's attack, he was mistaken, as Jude easily sliced at them with her hands and froze them before landing gracefully.  
  
JoJo, however, had clearly intended for it to be a bluff. Jude had seen his attack coming, but couldn't hide her surprise. Was he truly moving that fast?!  
  
"He's going straight for the side that Dire blinded!" Speedwagon cried out.  
  
 _I know, Speedwagon!_ Jude had expected something like this. But for him to have done it so quickly and to leave so few openings. She wondered just how many fights he'd been since their last battle.  _JoJo, did you also inherit that Zeppeli's memories? Or is it that you've been pushed to the limit every time? No wonder you defeated Martha so easily._  
  
JoJo's sword stabbed her straight into the right arm, along the upper half. Jude threw out two fingers upwards to attempt to stab into his neck and hold his very body hostage. Only for her body to work against her when JoJo yanked his blade upwards and sliced her arm off.  
  
His Ripple was deadly. Not only did the slicing sensation hurt, but the Ripple itself was like being thrown into lava. Jude let out of a scream of pain at the feeling. The despair of being mutilated was not all it was cracked up to be, if she was being honest.  
  
Especially when JoJo followed it up by cleaving through the top of her skull and pushing it downwards.  
  
JoJo pressed on without even the slightest bit of doubt or worry. Speedwagon cheered him on while Jude felt her flesh and bones burning from his Ripple. It seemed as if this was the end for Jude in less than a single minute of fighting.  
  
 _Nice try, JoJo. But I'm not dying yet!_ Jude focused and began to vaporise her moisture along the path of the blade, both where it struck and where it was going to hit next.  
  
"He did it. Jude is slain!" Speedwagon screamed meanwhile. Why not? She had been almost completely bisected.  
  
"Wrong again, Speedwagon!" Jude replied. She maniacally grinned as she looked down at the ice building up, inviting JoJo to do the same.  
  
He looked down to find his sword and arms completely encased in ice! Incapable of moving and finishing the attack on Jude!  
  
"And on top of that," Jude moved quickly in piercing her left hand's middle and index finger up and into JoJo's neck. Just a few seconds of rummaging later and she found it! "I have your blood carotid in my hand."  
  
She could only smile at JoJo and Speedwagon's panic. If only the sword wasn't in her way, Jude might have even leaned up until she and JoJo were pressing their chests against each other. That'd have to wait until later.  
  
Jude had at least a new toy to play with for the moment. She looked up at the blood vessel between her fingers and just wanted to squeeze it until it burst. She could just imagine the look on their faces as JoJo would bleed to death.  
  
But she instead tugged on the vessel, forcing JoJo to pull his head down to look her in the eye.  
  
"To think that such a warm, springy, and cute little thing could be in such a big man. I just wanna sink my teeth right into it!" She couldn't help but coo! The purple blood vessel was just too adorable!  
  
She easily blocked JoJo's attempt at kicking her with his right leg with her own leg, freezing his kneecap as it extended to the rest of his leg. Then, to finish it off, she tapped the top of his left shoe and the ice covered the lower half of that leg too.  
  
"JoJo, I'm coming to help you!" Speedwagon took a few steps, but stopped when Jude's arm on the floor began to move again.  
  
 _Ah...to talk and move is complete agony._ Jude had never been in such pain before. Any human would have been dead by now, but even if they lived, it would have been scientifically impossible to speak.  _But what is Despair if not to defy logic?! JoJo, I'm doing this all for you, so be grateful._  
  
"Zombies, deal with them." She commanded. As she heard her cute bears and monstrous minions charge in, she began to whisper fervently into her opponent. "JoJo, I'm going to cut that carotid and fill you all up with my vampiric essence. It'll feel a bit hot and hurt a bit, but I promise it'll feel good after that. You'll be a loyal pet zombie. I'll have you devour your friends first, after I disable their Ripple, and then we'll have the whole world to torment! In between some fun times of our own."  
  
Spit began to dribble down her chin, and the grin that she had on her face began to grow wider. "I'll take it nice and slow. Just so we can bond over the flesh and blood of the innocent. We'll even make a special trip home so that everyone can see us together! Even that Erina." JoJo's expression turned to complete horror. Jude personally found it rather pretty. "What? You thought I didn't know she was back in town? Oh, JoJo, I always thought she was a cute girl. But now she's beautiful! I wonder if she'll feel the same about me. But she may disapprove of our new relationship,"  
  
"Not that we can't fix that with her being a zombie too," Jude had wondered if she finally broke him with that. JoJo was staring down in defeat as his hair kept Jude from looking up and seeing his expression for herself. Oh well, she'd just have to be happy pouring salt on the wound. "After we teach her a couple of tricks in bed. Upupupupu!"  
  
"Jude," JoJo's voice was so rough that Jude could barely hold her excitement. Only for it to turn to fear when he looked down at her and smiled triumphantly. "You have become blinded by your own evil! I was counting on you putting torment and despair over your own analytical powers!"  
  
"Wha-" Jude then felt it. The scorching heat from behind. It was causing the pains all over her body to set off once more.  
  
"You didn't freeze me completely because you needed my blood to heal. You also wanted to whisper poison into my ear before killing me. So I can still use the Ripple, despite your Body Freezing Technique." Jonathan explained as he yanked his blade out from her body.  
  
The fire was faster than her Body Freezing Technique! Its temperature was too high and she couldn't freeze the fire itself. She was still stuck on JoJo's sword and couldn't turn!  
  
However, she could still move her arms and the first thing she did was to cut that damn sword in half with her left arm. The blade was split in two and Jude at least bought herself some time.  
  
"Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!" He screamed. Jude barely had time to notice, distracted by the broken sword, before feeling the punch against her face. Her skin seared from the pain as Jude quickly hissed from the chill across the side of her face. JoJo almost broke through as well.  
  
But it didn't! Jude was still alive and could still win this fight! Her face began to heal with what blood she managed to take.  
  
"He did it!" Speedwagon cheered as he held back a group of zombies with his cane alone. Tonpetty, however, arrived to assist and quickly dealt with them.  
  
However, he also had to be the bearer of bad news. "No. Look again. It did not break through."  
  
JoJo, meanwhile, was staring down at the chunk of ice that covered his right arm up to the elbow.  
  
"JoJo," Jude growled. Her stump spat out tendrils that joined with her sliced-off arm, which sent out tendrils of its own, and a quick retraction later she had restored her arm. She then stuck out the two halves of her tongue as far as she could and extended a double two-fingered salute to JoJo. "Your Ripple is weak shit!"  
  
With one firm push, Jude put her face and body back together. She shuddered in delight at the disgusting sensation of her organs, bones, and blood vessels all reconnecting with each other.  
  
"You can use all the tactics you like. That fire one was unexpected... a sight to behold! Just what I'd expect from a man like you, JoJo." She kept up the two fingers of her right hand and wiggled them. "But my Body Freezing Technique just needs two seconds to freeze you whole. Two seconds and two fingers are all I need to make you scream."  
  
JoJo glared and said nothing. He didn't have to. The way he squeezed out the orange vampiric essence out from his neck told her everything. JoJo still had fight left in him.  
  
"I knew it'd be like this. You won't give up to the very end." Jude let a bit of admiration coat her voice, before turning back to cruel and unrelenting force. "But that Hope is worthless. Predictable! I'll see through it and kill you! Human spirit will never defeat the likes of me. The likes of Despair! I will envelop this whole world in a Despair so foul that it'll never again know Hope!"  
  
"You've got that wrong, Jude!" Jonathan moved into a fighting position yet again. Defiant to the end. "Humans are capable of anything with enough conviction! That is why we have made it this far! You think you have ascended humanity, but have given yourself a ceiling! Humans, however, can still grow. Let me show that to you!"  
  
"Very well, JoJo!" Jude jumped into the air and advanced on him. The final climax to their battle had just begun. "Let us see which triumphs! The Hope of humanity, or my Despair!"  
  
JoJo revealed his right hand, lighting up as if it were the sun with all that Ripple energy stored within it, and moved in a circle. He still approached her with increasing momentum, but it looked more as if he was moving along the side. Was he trying to distract her?  
  
He could never defeat her with a one-handed punch. She could just use the Body Freezing Technique and his Ripple would be cut off. Maybe that was it! He was moving to disguise his Ripple and break the ice, then go for hitting her with both fists as one! Ha, it was almost brilliant, if he hadn't underestimated her power-  
  
Jude followed his path and saw what he had actually been fist reaching for.  
  
The fire! The very same fire that had allowed him to free himself from her trap, and launch his own, was being used against her again! It'd probably burn his skin bad, but he didn't care!  
  
Putting his hand to the flame, his glove ignited! JoJo was literally lighting his own hand on fire!  
  
"JoJo...of course! He's using the only way to break through Jude's Body Freezing Technique!" Speedwagon shouted.  
  
"This is it, Jude! Who will win this, you or me!" Jonathan put his fists together, lighting both on fire, but also doubling the force of his strike. She knew it! But she hadn't predicted the fire!  
  
Oh God...she hadn't predicted it!  
  
 _Amazing! Fantastic! Despairing!_ Jude pushed her own hands forwards and grabbed hold of his wrists. This was it! Hope against Despair! Ice against fire! Judith Eydris against Jonathan Joestar! The sheer energy and force of their respective blows sent out blasts of force as they each pushed against one another.  
  
"He was blocked?!" Speedagon cried out in fear. Jude, however, was busy putting everything she could into growing the ice she had already created. Every last bit of her power went into freezing as hard as she could.  
  
But it was useless.  
  
JoJo's fire was too hot for the technique to actually work. It just added too much heat for Jude to fully remove and so JoJo's Ripple was safe. It even managed to blast its way through the ice she had already built up!  
  
His fists burst through her hold and nothing could stop them from hitting her right in the centre of her stomach! If she hadn't been in the air, he'd have gone straight through her head and killed her instantly!  
  
The Ripple energy burst through Jude's stomach, along with more than a pound of her flesh, and she felt the power of the blow drive her back as well. She flew back until she was over the balcony and nothing to break her fall with.  
  
The fight had ended. JoJo had won.  
  
"JoJo, you did it!" She let her joy show. Why not? Even now, she could feel the despair she yearned for. "Even after I cast aside my humanity. Even after I cast aside my own sister! All of that and all of my zombies and power and you still beat me! Your Hope and Ripple shattered my plans! My Despair was meant to have caused a tragedy like none other..."  
  
"Jude, you had to be destroyed." Jonathan whispered as Jude plummeted down from the edge of the balcony. How sweet of him.  
  
"This pain! This fire! Is this the Despair I've been searching for?" Jude howled. Just when JoJo let his guard down, however, she had decided to use her final trump card. "But I've still got one last trick up my sleeve! Space Ripper Stingy Eyes!"  
  
She would have to rename that sometime.  
  
It was a simple matter of focusing the fluids of her eyes into the very counterpoint and firing them off. They looked like two purple beams of light shooting out from her eyes and yet had more piercing power than even the world's greatest gun! Martha would have killed for something like this.  
  
Only JoJo's quick reflexes saved him. Had he not moved, the beam wouldn't have gone through his hands but his very brain! It was an unblockable attack! It cut through the stone of the entire tower of the castle and even into the sky itself! Those who weren't sleeping in their beds at Windknight's Lot would probably look up in awe at the burst of light, before convincing themselves it was but an illusion.  
  
And why not? It's not as if it killed anyone.  
  
Judith Eydris was falling apart. Literally. The Ripple was spreading across her body, as chunks of roasted flesh flew off from her, and Jude was falling down fast. She must have seemed like a shooting star to any far-off observers. A miracle on earth.  
  
She hadn't even killed anyone apart from Martha in this fight and now she was going to die.  
  
This was how she would die! A corpse falling to bits until there was nothing left but the clothes she wore! JoJo and his friends would probably burn it later, so not even that! There would not be a single trace of her left.  
  
The woman meant to destroy the world was instead destroyed herself!  
  
 _If it's truly my time to vacate the stage, then I might as well go out with a smile!_ She saw JoJo looking down at her, both making sure she died and even mourning her, even now. The tears ran down his eyes as he searched for her.  
  
Jude also noticed, however, a falling creation of hers. It was one of her bears! Still perfectly intact as well.  
  
When JoJo finally spotted her, he did not find an enemy screaming about how this could not be. What he found was a young woman with a bear on her chest, happily waving farewell to her big brother, using the arm that hadn't been turned to ashes already.  
  
And then she vanished into the darkness.  
  


\---

  
In most worlds, Dio Brando does not accept death.  
  
In the few worlds where he battles with Jonathan Joestar and fails to find a way to cheat death, he has no choice but to accept it. Dio Brando dies at Windknight's Lot having failed in his ambitions and Jonathan goes on to live a harmonious life with his one true love Erina Pendleton.  
  
Unfortunately, it is rare that Dio does not resort to decapitation and lacks the help of his servant, Wang Chan, and that he and Jonathan do not plunge into the depths of the sea together.  
  
But Judith Eydris- or Junko Enoshima, as she is known in most worlds- is not Dio Brando.  
  
She did not live to dominate others or to take over the world, even if these were often steps she took, but instead to feel Despair. A Despair great enough that she could not predict it and thus free her of her boredom with the world around her. She would fight for her victory, but would accept defeat.  
  
In this world, she had lost fairly to Jonathan's determination. She had lived a short but glorious life where she acted freely as she liked after years of repressing her true self as much as she could. Judith Eydris had gone through every great despair she could think of, and now accepted the one that had eluded her until now.  
  
If she had the choice, she would have died by the cliffs.  
  
Yet Wang Chan would find her decapitated head. He would place her inside a bag and carry her off to a safe place.  
  
His loyalty came from her sense of certainty, combined with her charisma and intelligence, which made him realise that this was a woman who could change the world itself based on her desires. It was a sensation that seduced, and would continue to seduce, a great many souls tainted with an evil they did not recognise.  
  
But that doesn't explain how she survived Jonathan' Ripple.  
  
Martha Cutler, adopting her mother's surname to spit on her father's legacy, was much like Mukuro Ikusaba in how they pledged their very existence towards the protection and happiness of their little sister. They would commit any sin for her. They would do anything, if never actually expecting to perish at her hand.  
  
It's a fate that only a tragically small number can escape from.  
  
Even in death, however, Martha was like Mukuro in still being of use to the despair of their little sister.  
  
When Jude threw her sister's frozen body out of the castle, it shattered to pieces on the balcony and fragments and shards descended down onto the cliffside. Most shattered on the ground and some shattered on the cliff whilst falling. The bloodstains would later be spotted by investigators and would be attributed to the seventy-three missing people of Windknight's Lot.  
  
But there was one piece of ice that were larger than expected. Large enough to embed itself onto the cliff and sharp enough that it could tear through any flesh that crashed against it.  
  
For example, a person disintegrating into bits and having just reached terminal velocity.  
  
As Jude's body struck the ice, it caused that final fragment to break apart and for Jude's neck to be sliced horizontally.  
  
Before all traces of Martha Cutler disappeared, she protected Judith one last time.  
  
There were but a few seconds of confusion and pain before Jude fell unconscious and unable to ask what had happened. When she'd awaken, she would find Wang Chan fretting over her and realise that she was still alive, if in a jar filled with preserving fluids of some kind.  
  
After a brief moment of disappointment, Jude decided that she might as well make the most of her extended lifespan.  
  
For she had a new plan in store for JoJo. One that would truly make him weep and fall into despair.  
  
So began the final chapter of Jonathan Joestar's life.  
  


\---

  
"Wang Chan, I'm going to open my eyes and if I don't see one of two people in front of me, I'm taking-" Jude opened her eyes. She seemed almost bored at first, before her eyes sparkled at the sight of Jonathan. "JoJo!"  
  
The worst part was the sincerity. It reminded him of how he'd call out Danny's name when he was a child.  
  
How? How could she have still lived? The Ripple should have turned her into ashes! The Stone Mask had been destroyed! That should have been the end of it all!  
  
And yet...and yet Jonathan had still seen Wang Chan and followed him down to this place. The engine room of the ship where an open coffin laid on one end of the room and a corpse on the other. He stood away from the stairs he entered through, but kept an eye on the entrance. All while he witnessed one of the most bizarre sites he had ever seen.  
  
Resting on Wang Chan's right arm was a jar filled with some kind of preservation liquid, colored an amber-orange much like those he had seen in the university labs that contained the corpses of stillborn babies. Inside it was Judith Eydris herself! Her hair was tied into buns behind her and she no longer had her body, but that head could belong to no one else.  
  
No one else could have those eyes.  
  
"J-Jude!" Jonathan waited for the great and triumphant mockery of all his efforts.  
  
Yet it never came.  
  
"JoJo, there's a reason I wanted to show you this." Jude's voice was rarely this demure. At least ever since she showed her true colours. "I've never hated you, JoJo. Oh, I could find you annoying or naive in the old days, but I've never hated you. In fact, I love you! Our fight together," She paused. Jude was almost acting like a love-sick girl trying to find the right words to say. "I didn't want it to end! I wanted it to go on forever....or at least a couple more years. If it weren't for you, I'd still be trapped in that sterile boring life. I can't believe I thought making Martha Prime Minister and having her start a war like none other would satisfy me."  
  
"What are you planning, Jude?" Jonathan asked. He did his best to keep his guard up.  
  
"Well, I certainly can't keep up the dance if I'm just a head. I need a body! Someone who I feel a bond with." Jude said. She must have noticed his panicked expression because she laughed uproariously at that. "No, silly! It can't be you. Otherwise, who am I going to fight? No, I have someone else in mind."  
  
Jonathan didn't understand. Who else was there to take? Jude must have felt close to someone, but the only people who she knew on this ship were Jonathan, Wang Chan and-  
  
 _Erina!_ Jonathan cursed himself for not guessing it. What better way to torture him than to taunt him with his own wife's body? All he'd have left would be her head to mourn and enough regret to drown himself in.  _No! I won't let her do it. I will not let her leave this boat so long as I draw breath!_  
  
"Jonathan!" Erina said. "The boat, it's-"  
  
"Erina! It's so good to see you!" Jude had interrupted her without hesitation and yet had the gall to look offended when Erina regarded her with confusion. "You don't even remember me? Even after I helped you kiss your first boy. Or rather, helped you experiment with girls?!"  
  
Her eyes lit up in recognition. "Judith Eydris? What are you-"  
  
"Stay back, Erina! You have to run!" Jonathan couldn't allow Jude to take Erina away! He couldn't!  
  
"Run where, JoJo?" Jude teasingly asked. "I had Wang Chan turn one of the passengers into a zombie. By now, it's already spreading! Hundreds of zombies all ready to chow down! My gift for the Big Apple!"  
  
"Jude, I won't let you take Erina's body!" Jonathan replied. He'd fought her once and triumphed, he could do it again.  
  
"Good, JoJo. Good! But how long will that hopeful defiance last when I slice off her head and wear her corpse like a fresh, tailor-made suit? How will you feel then?" Jude asked. Her eyes glistened as she said, "I'll take the body of the woman you love and I will use it to make you chase me forever!"  
  
He wouldn't allow it! There was no possible way that he would allow Jude to steal away Erina's body and use it for her own means. Oh, he had a good idea on the reason why she was doing this.  
  
It would be the ultimate torture. Jonathan would be forced to live with the knowledge that the woman he loved had been killed by Jude. She would make him chase her to the ends of the earth, just to bask in his pain, and endlessly mock him with Erina's body.  
  
She would have him chase her until he was old and grey. Until he lived for nothing more than to take her life and avenge those who he had lost.  
  
 _She'll control me for the rest of my life. All by using the idea of avenging Erina as bait!_ Jonathan had to be quick. The Stone Mask was no more. All he had to do was grab Erina and run. If he was lucky, the chance to slay Wang Chan would open itself, and Jude would have no one to help her whilst Erina would be on the lifeboats.  
  
"Erina, when I tell you to, you have to run. I'll be shortly behind." He said as his eyes on Jude. "My Ripple will handle your Wang Chan, Jude! After that, we'll leave you behind to burn!"  
  
Jude raised an eyebrow. "Is that right?"  
  
A clear thudding noise caught Jonathan's attention. He turned his head to find an innocent woman with an axe wound right at the centre of her head. She collapsed onto the stairs just beside Erina and fell down the stairs. Her arms were wrapped around something, protecting it from the impact of her fall.  
  
Only when it cried did Jonathan realise what it was.  
  
A baby! In her final moments, the woman must have wrapped her arms around the baby securely enough that she would keep her grip on it, even after being killed by whichever zombie killed her. Erina gasped at the sound and Jonathan cursed himself again for not making sure that Jude had died.  
  
He tried to go over and help, but he shouldn't have let his guard down! He shouldn't have taken his eyes off from Wang Chan!  
  
Because it gave him a chance! A chance to turn and face Jude's head towards Erina. She had an open path to launch herself forward and steal away Erina's body in front of Jonathan's eyes.  
  
"I'll kill Erina, JoJo. And as you wallow in Despair, I'll take her body for my own! Rejoice, JoJo, for this is the beginning of a decades-long adventure!" Suddenly, Jude began to blink and her nose twitched within the limbo water. "Is that...? Oh JoJo, you dog you! You hadn't even been married for a few days!" She then began to crackle madly, echoing throughout the area. For what reason, Jonathan did not know. "If it helps, I'll even be kind to you,"Jude's grin reached her sneering eyes. "When I give birth to you and Erina's child, I'll give him to you without a scratch on it! I wouldn't want the child to miss out on a life of neglect and despair!"  
  
 _Erina's pregnant!?_ No time to think about that now. Jonathan heard those mocking words and turned them into fuel. Fuel to make himself move quicker and to protect Erina at all costs. He ran faster than he had ever moved before. More than any rugby game he had ever competed in.  
  
It was worth it. He was closing the distance faster than Jude could prepare herself. He could do it!  
  
He jumped and extended out his arms to hold Erina and throw her behind him. So long as he had the Ripple, he could save both her and the baby. Jude would follow him and he could use that to defeat her. Then destroy the ship so that no zombie would escape.  
  
Yet Jude was still smiling.  
  
"Too late, JoJo! Space Ripper Stingy Eyes!" She screamed. Out of her eyes came a familiar pair of pinkish jets of fluid.  
  
Jonathan had no way of stopping them. All he could do was grab onto Erina and throw her out of the path of the attack. He jumped, grabbed at her and both pushed and span her away.  
  
He was in the air. He had no way of correcting or moving himself after that. There was nothing he could do.  
  
Pain shot through his body and yet he could not scream. He felt two foreign objects (he should have known what they were, but his brain was in too much shock to remember) pierce through his neck. He could hear wood and metal behind him be punctured.  
  
His vision turned to black for a moment before returning. However, it was blurred and the sharp cry of the baby below had become muffled. It was as if someone was covering his ears without touching him.  
  
When his senses cleared, the first thing he saw was Jude looking at him in complete surprise.  
  
"Oh JoJo..." Jude said. She sighed and spoke, only this time with far less energy. "I guess I'll just have to have faith in your child then."  
  
Those words...it couldn't have been! Even if she was telling the truth, how could she know? Jude could have just been bluffing to pain his heart!  
  
But even the slightest chance of her words being true were enough to make Jonathan want to act. He began to breath in-  
  
And failed.  
  
He couldn't do it. The air couldn't make it through his throat properly. Jonathan had to struggle and fight to summon even a fraction of a fraction of the Ripple energy he once could use with ease. He had to fight to do anything, to put it bluntly.  
  
Still he couldn't. For all his effort, he could no long call upon the Ripple. That was when he realised it.  
  
Jonathan's neck was pierced, ruby-red blood was pouring down his puncture holes, and his breathing had gone out of control and more difficult by the second. He could not use the Ripple and was facing off against an enemy who could take his life even with its power.  
  
But that was just it.  
  
Jonathan Joestar had just realised that he was going to die.  
  


\---

  
Jude could see it in his eyes. The moment he realised that he couldn't breathe properly, it was already becoming obvious to him.  
  
He struggled to stand up, struggling to be some kind of shield for his wife fretting behind him, but failed. This man of such great strength and power was now slouched against the staircase and could not stand on his own two feet. He had lost within a second.  
  
Both Jonathan and Erina were losing Hope. Jude could see it in their eyes, body structure, and could see no way that either would feel anything but despair over what jut happened. The wails of the baby by the foot of the stairs filled the air whilst outside of this room was the zombification of the entire ship.  
  
All this despair and yet Jude was thinking only one thing.  
  
 _JoJo, you shouldn't have..._ Jude, however, couldn't finish her thoughts as Wang Chan cackled behind her.  
  
"Behold, Jude! Jonathan Joestar is laying there defeated!" Wang Chan pointed at him mockingly. Seeing Jonathan struggle to breath seemed to amuse him. "He cannot even use that pesky Ripple! That's what he gets for putting you in that pitiful position! What should we do? Torture him in front of his wife? Or maybe just watch him suffocate? How should we punish this bastard who dared to defy you? Make his woman watch as he dies!"  
  
He laughed and laughed until Jude got bored of it.  
  
"Wang Chan," She glared down at him. "Shut the fuck up."  
  
Wang Chan, who claimed to be her most loyal servant, dared to appear confused at why she was angry.  
  
"JoJo has given me endless despair. He has constantly overcome adversity to put me in check again and again. He has burnt me twice now." Jude would have spat at him, if it weren't for the preservation fluids. "That's the kind of gift you want to spit on?!"  
  
Now he was stuttering over his words. He clearly didn't expect her to say that.  
  
She looked at JoJo and spoke kindly. He deserved some kind of softness now. "I'll give you the kindest thing I can imagine. If I were in your position, I would give this to me. JoJo, before you die, I want you to know,"  
  
Jude smiled and her eyes beamed yet again, just as they had the first time she had seen JoJo again.  
  
"The gift of watching me steal away Erina's body! That final great despair will be my parting gift to you, JoJo! Embrace it! Embrace my love!" She cried out. What a good little sister she was to grant him this kind of Despair. She would have killed for a sibling like herself.  
  
Not too much like herself. That'd be hell.  
  
Wang Chan stalked towards Erina with Jude's jar resting on his arm. She softly gasped as she stood up. Jude could read her mind with just a glimpse. She was wondering what was happening. Why was her husband dying in front of her? How can I stop this man and Jude?  
  
To the very end, JoJo was fighting. A part of Jude wanted to tell Wang Chan to watch out. To be cautious. That, even now, JoJo was an enemy to be feared and observed with caution.  
  
But he would not listen to her. He was too arrogant in his sense of supremacy over the dying man.  
  
 _Besides, I want to see if you can do it, JoJo. If you can truly defy the odds this one last time._  
  
JoJo, with all his might, pushed himself up to his own two feet and put his hands together. His hands came together and he extended his index and middle fingers out together. He looked both Wang Chan and Jude in the eye and there it was.  
  
That refusal to surrender! That refusal to ever give into Jude or her Despair!  
  
Not just that, but the calculation! He was focusing his Ripple onto a single point, but also getting ready to separate his hands to create a whole line of Ripple. Even if Wang Chan avoided the direct attack, he'd at least be hit by the Ripple.  
  
There was nothing her servant could do. Jonathan struck a blow against Wang Chan and hit him on the head! It wasn't a killing blow, but a blow all the same.  
  
That was it.  
  
Jude saw his defiance and now she was seeing the price. Something inside JoJo broke and whatever strength let him stand was now forever lost to him. He fell backwards and towards the staircase. It was likely only Erina that would keep him from making contact with the steps, wincing at the dead weight.  
  
As for herself, Jude shot out from the jar and forced her hair to break out from the buns. They shot out and wrapped themselves around the pipes along the ceiling. One advantage of decapitation was that it was good for saving your hair from Ripple-related burnings.  
  
She still saw him fall. Just an inch from where Wang Chan stood was the baby, crying as ever, but safe from harm.  
  
 _Was that your final act of defiance?_ Jude wondered what the point of it was. Wang Chan would easily survive the blow and that was Jonathan's final Ripple. Did he truly waste it on empty Hope? But it all made sense when she looked down again.  _Oh, JoJo. You magnificent bastard!_  
  
Wang Chan was gripping on the paddle screw shaft. The essential part of the ship's maintenance was being sabotaged! If they couldn't move the paddle, then steam would begin to build up quickly in the piston, and then...and then...  
  
The ship would explode! Jude and her zombies would never reach America! This was JoJo's last plan to stop Jude from either spreading Despair to the world or from taking away his beloved Erina!  
  
"Erina, you have to escape this ship. It won't last long." JoJo said softly, both out of tenderness and because of his wound.  
  
"I don't understand what's happening. It's all so fast that I don't know if I can even cry. But I know that Erina Joestar will die here with you." Erina leaned in to kiss JoJo. Even as the ship around them fire and rocked, Erina clearly wanted this moment to last forever.  
  
Maybe if the right part of the ship exploded, it truly would last forever.  
  
However, it did not last forever. The couple parted lips for the last time. JoJo wiped the tears from Erina's face and pointed to the baby by the bottom of the stairs.  
  
"It's okay to cry. But, Erina, you have to live." He said. It was obvious what else he wanted her to do.  
  
Erina looked down at the baby and wept harder. "You wish for me to take the baby and run? For me, that kind of heroism would only be cruelty! When my only wish is to die with you by my side."  
  
Jude was watching. She might have moved to act, but chose not to. Not when Erina Pendleton Joestar could possibly do what Jude was wondering she might do. The ultimate way to spit on JoJo's very legacy.  
  
To abandon a baby to its death. All so she could die with her husband. To say that would satisfy Jude's lust for despair, if only for the moment, would be like saying a starving man could be fed by a banquet. Just the word themselves would sate her hunger, as JoJo's faith in humanity would be ruined.  
  
She said nothing. She didn't dare alienate Erina from the path of Despair.  
  
And yet, the moment JoJo spoke, she knew what would happen.  
  
"I understand the sorrow in your heart," JoJo replied. He managed to, somehow, rally her spirits even now. "Yet that mother, just as mine did, gave her life to gave her child. Please, I want for you to live on. At least make sure that that woman's sacrifice wasn't in vain."  
  
Erina nodded with tears still running down her eyes. With a sickeningly dignified grace, she stood up and ran towards the baby, picking it up. She prepared to turn back around and make her way up the stairs.  
  
"Nice try, Erina! But I won't let you!" Jude screamed. If this was the end of JoJo, she would make sure he would spend it in despair. She owed him that much. "I'll escape this ship with your body! That baby dies with JoJo!"  
  
The walls of the engine shattered as zombies forced their way in. Perfect! A way for Jude to render Jonathan's final Ripple meaningless! She gave a quick glance to JoJo.  
  
"You're not the only one who gives it all to win. Servants, shit all over JoJo's final Ripple and eat Wang Chan! Save the ship until I have secured Erina's body. Then we take America. It'll have to do as a lesser despair over JoJo's." Jude commanded.  
  
It was a sign of how much he meant to her that her old plan of planetary extinction was less fulfilling than seeing him finally break. That even watching the New World be swallowed by despair meant less than one man.  
  
The zombies drew closer to Wang Chan and were already taking bites out of him. They were even moving on the faster end of Jude's predictions for when they'd have devoured him whole. But she knew they would never succeed that task.  
  
Because she knew the precise point that explosions would rock the very boat itself! Flames engulfed Wang Chan and the zombies whole as they turned to dust and ash. But that wasn't all! Debris flew across the engine room as well. If Jude's calculations were correct as well, they would hit their proper target.  
  
The heated metal would slice Erina and the baby into pieces! All without harming the baby inside her! All too perfect for her plan.  
  
Jude readied herself for the look on JoJo's face for when-  
  
 _No...No! How can this be?!_  
  
JoJo had managed to stand up. JoJo had found the energy to throw himself in front of Erina and the baby in her arms. JoJo had his back protecting Erina as the metallic shards pierced into his back.  
  
Jude couldn't believe it. This was impossible! No man with his injuries could possibly move so quickly! It defied everything. It spat in the face of her analytical powers!  
  
The despair would have made her do a lot of things, if she still had a body.  
  
"Jonathan!" Erina's scream brought Jude back to earth. She had to move quick!  
  
"This is it! My last and boldest attempt!" Jude would use her coffin as a life-raft, she could use a blanket for cover, or hell, she could just swim for it! It didn't matter how she avoided the sun, the important thing was taking Erina's body.  
  
Tendrils burst out from her neck stump and curled around JoJo's own. With a gasped cry and an extended hand, he was pulled away from Erina. Jude separated the two lovers forever. She had also cleared the field to seize Erina with further tendrils and complete her plan.  
  
"JoJo, take a good look!" Jude cackled madly. She was intoxicated on despair; both the present and the potential to come. "Without that baby, I'll easily move quick enough into the sea! If my calculations are right, and using my vampire body, I'll easily be able to swim far enough to find shade by the cliffs of the Canary Islands. Upupupupu, JoJo, Erina, your child will be a slave to my Despair!"  
  
Jude flew towards Erina with her tendrils at the ready. Those fear-filled eyes made Jude's mouth water. She was already debating whether she would choke Erina to death with her fleshy wires or if she'd make it nice and quick. She had to make this special! This would be JoJo's final inflection of Despair, after all.  
  
Maybe if she had been more decisive, she would have actually reached Erina.  
  
A powerful tug pulled her far away from Erina. It was about to her south-east that Jude was pulled. The culprit was obvious and all Jude needed to do was to quickly cut his eyes with one of her tendrils and that'd be that. All he was doing was deluding himself.  
  
And yet, as Jude turned, what she found instead was a metal fragment being stabbed right at the lower point of her neck. Her pupils constricted and her breath was taken away.  
  
It was one of the shards that'd been embedded into his back. The left shoulder as well. The very same one she had pierced with the spear in the mansion. He pulled it out, yanked her over, and stabbed her without hesitation or exhaustion. Even after everything.  
  
 _Just like the mansion. The piece of metal in the shoulder being used against me I should have calculated for that..._ Jude should have had a counter ready. She should have won this. Yet, she was not upset in the slightest, but merely awed.  _But who could ever calculate you, JoJo?_  
  
Erina could only reach out as JoJo and Jude stumbled away from the staircase, "Jonathan!" She had one final scream before being separated from her husband.  
  
The explosions would soon create a wall of flame and noise that no human could ever be seen or heard over. The ship was now truly falling apart. Jude's zombies were either dead or beginning to burn alive. All of her creations were turning to ash with nothing to show for it. She had but a single zombie left in the whole world.  
  
Erina and the baby would move soon. She had JoJo's last wishes in mind and would do her best to find a suitable makeshift life-raft. Only she would find none and return here. There would probably be only two paths towards the very coffin Jude arrived in as the only way to survive both the explosion and stay afloat.  
  
She would make it and live. Jude couldn't read JoJo perfectly, but she could read everything else. The direction of the air that everyone else was able to ignore, the exact amount of power in each explosion rocking the boat, and even the decisions that the likes of Erina would make.  
  
But all those thoughts passed from her, however, for the strangest thing happened.  
  
JoJo put his arms around her head in a warm embrace.  
  
"Jude, it's funny." He said, pulling her in closer. Fire was all around them and yet JoJo's chest was where Jude felt warmest. "I should hate you for everything you've done. All that you've planned to do as well. Yet...I feel a strange warmth for you. As if we truly had been brother and sister...It's as if our lives were bound together."  
  
"You...You realized it too?" Jude asked. She had only ever spoken this softly to Martha. Yet JoJo was focused on one person alone.  
  
"Fare...well...Erina..."  
  
Jude could not see, but she could hear the explosions roaring around them. One of which had finally cut off JoJo and Erina off completely. The last time that those two would ever see each other again. So shortly after being married as well.  
  
It was a glorious despair.  
  
For these final moments, Jude had JoJo all to herself. There was no George, Speedwagon, Danny, Zeppeli, Erina...or Martha to cut in. Just these two people so far above the average idiot.  
  
Jude did her best to give some kind of gift.  
  
"How does it feel, JoJo? How does it feel to know that you'll never see Erina again? That you will never see your child be born and grow? Isn't it just enough to make you cry and despair? Huh, JoJo?" Jude waited for him to say something inspiring. All about how she had still lost, or that his Hope would be continued on through his son.  
  
Instead all she had was silence.  
  
"JoJo?"  
  
Jonathan Joestar's eyes were empty and yet his head was still held high and he was looking forward.  
  
"JoJo...you're dead." Jude had said it out loud and yet it still didn't feel right. She felt a familiar wetness along her cheeks.  
  
"You were always there to give me Despair. You were always there to be the Hope I'd have to kill to bring about a worldwide Despair. I wanted to bring you into the most marvelous despair so that you'd understand. But instead, you've made me feel failure again and again. You were the one man I could never analyse and understand completely. I never had to fear everything going perfectly to plan with you around. And now you've given me the despair of killing my sibling again."  
  
She nuzzled into his chest. The warmth had to be treasured while it still lasted.  
  
"So, thank you, my beloved big brother."  
  
Jude began to move her tendrils towards JoJo's body. She glanced to the coffin where she had emerged and a plan began to come to her mind. If she couldn't use Erina to bring JoJo Despair, and she could not make him feel it in death, then she could still have him help her.  
  
She had hoped to cut all ties to her past, but she owed it to JoJo to survive this. To live on and spread Despair across the entire world itself! After all, Erina didn't need the second compartment of the coffin to survive.  
  
So she would have to delay her death.  
  
 _JoJo...we'll bring about Despair together. So please don't hate your baby sister for borrowing your body. I promise I'll give it back. Just be patient._  
  
Minutes later, Erina Pendleton Joestar closed the lid of the coffin over herself and the child in her arms. She locked herself from within and held on tight. The explosion had no chance of hurting her with its fortifications.  
  
She did not find either her husband or the woman who killed him and presumed that the fire had devoured them. There was no time to mourn, however broken her heart was, as she prepared herself for the impact. Erina didn't even smell the corpse beneath her.  
  
And so the ship exploded and the tale of Jonathan Joestar had ended.  
  


\---

  
Erina Pendleton and the child she saved would be found floating on a coffin near the Canary Islands.  
  
In death, Jonathan had saved not just three innocent lives, but ensured that the Joestar legacy would more than outlast him and prove to be just as noble and heroic as he had been. They may not have been perfect Victorian gentlemen, but they were heroes nonetheless.  
  
As for Jude and Jonathan...they would descend down into the depths of the sea. Inside a coffin's second compartment that was more than capable of keeping stable and airtight against the pressures of the sea, they would be together for a very long while. Both would be waiting for the day that they would return to the surface.  
  
Judith Eydris and the removed-head of Jonathan Joestar would be waiting for a long time.


	6. Phantom Ronpa IF

**Special Chapter One  
Phantom Ronpa IF**

\---

  
Is mankind truly capable of making their own choices?  
  
Their genetics, their upbringing, and even simply their interactions with others define them. It shapes their very identities and beliefs. In a way, is there truly ever a proactive person? Or merely just varying degrees of being reactive?  
  
If that was the case, then is free-will not simply a myth? Are we not just bound by the strings of Fate built by decisions made before we are even born?  
  
On top of that, say there was a woman who could meet a person and- through no more than a simple conversation- could analyse them and predict their every action with almost perfect accuracy. Say this person existed and made their judgements on what those closest to them would do.  
  
How could they ever be wrong? How could they ever be surprised? Such an impressive ability would surely be maddening for those who had it.  
  
But that is not their story. This is the story of the one closest to their heart; who had long decided to submit themselves to the machinations of she who could do so much good and yet chose evil.  
  
Someone who dares to believe in the IF.  
  
Many IFs end the same way for Martha Cutler, or Mukuro Ikusaba in most IFs, and that is to die for the sake of her little sister's despair. The very person she thought only she could understand was actually on a different plane to her. The object of her devotion and loyalty instead slew her so that she could feel a despair equal to that of death.  
  
There is little she can do. She would never harm her little sister, let alone kill her, and Fate decrees that she follow the lead of that same sister until the ends of time. The duty of the soldier, after all, is to follow orders, is it not? There is no other path for her than to submit herself to the overwhelming presence of the one who'd take her life.  
  
Yet, to do so is not impossible. In a world of countless IFs, who is to say that a woman like Martha Cutler is doomed?  
  
After all, if Mukuro Ikusaba was able to live because of a stroke of luck, the faith of a boy who was the first to smile at her unconditionally, and the strength of herself and her classmates, then why not Martha Cutler?  
  
She had no boy with extremely extraordinary luck. Nor did she have a whole class of talented students to lend their aid when the crisis seemed at its worst.  
  
But she did have her strength and she did have someone else with a pure heart. A man who was willing to welcome her into his home when he first saw her, if not as herself, and even when they fought one another without mercy might have still forgiven her. If only she had been willing to try.  
  
Yet she does not try and instead dies wondering what had happened to make her sister betray her.  
  
In this IF, however, things end quite differently. But is it enough? Is the desire to change enough to truly do so? Could someone who is so tied to another really risk shattering that connection? Could Martha Cutler break free from the chains of Fate and bring about a new destiny?  
  
The curtain lowers....  
  


\---

  
Jonathan Joestar could only watch as Mister Zeppeli and Martha fought one another.  
  
It had been a failure of spirit on his part. He should have given it everything he had and yet he had been unable to. Memories of the past had kept him in chains.  
  
With the Ripple, he should have been able to hit her at least once. Instead, he had restrained himself whilst Martha was fighting with everything she had. Her humanity itself had been discarded in the name of winning this battle.  
  
Jonathan should have met her with courage and willpower.  
  
 _But now I can only stand and guard Poco whilst Mister Zeppeli fights my battle for me._ Jonathan kept an eye on the walls and ceiling in case those black-and-white bears or adult-sized zombies tried to attack. He and Speedwagon couldn't let any harm happen to Poco.  
  
Jonathan remembered just who Jude had thrown those bears designs over and was sickened again. Madness had overtaken the woman he once called little sister. The Stone Mask had seemingly robbed her of all that as good and moral.  
  
 _But was it just the mask? Cruelty and evil came naturally to her before._  He had seen Judith's true face at the mansion whilst she was human. There was also Martha's words about how either Jude attracted despair or despair was attracted to her. That she had simply learnt to inflict it upon others and enjoy both her own and others' despair.  
  
The lowest and worst sister and yet who still needed someone like Martha to protect her. Those were her words.  
  
Was that why Martha was so determined to protect her? She pitied her suffering sister and indulged her every whim? Jonathan just couldn't understand how Martha would allow Jude to be so self-destructive that she would take the world with her.  
  
Jonathan, however, tried to keep his attention mostly on the battlefield. He could see Mister Zeppeli gaining ground with the use of his Ripple, only to then find himself returning to the same question.  
  
 _Martha, if you pity her, then why do you let her wallow in her despair? Why did you never try to cure her?_ Jonathan recalled the nature of their relationship; which defied just about every law from legal to societal to natural.  _Or did you fear that a cured Judith would have nothing to do with you?_  
  
Maybe she feared casting aside her bonds. After all, it was hard to find an attachment equal to that of your family.  
  
That was when Jonathan remembered it. The conversation that had seemed so long ago, when it was only a handful of months.  
  
 _"Marcus, do they ever bother you?" Jonathan spoke uneasily. He had only done so a handful of times since he was a child, but when discussing something like those rumours, it was hard not to. "Richard was only saying what he heard. I spoke with him, however, and made it clear that it was no excuse. If anyone else has been saying them around you-"  
  
"It's alright. Truly." Marcus said whilst his cold tone said otherwise. He and Jonathan were sat on a hillside by the road leading to the Joestar mansion. "I've never cared for their opinions. All I need is the love of my family. With that, I can fulfil my promise to her."  
  
Jonathan was slightly confused by his words. He wondered what he meant by that.  
  
Marcus' eyes widened and his cheeks blushed after realising what he said. "F-Forget I said anything. It doesn't matter."  
  
"You made a promise with Judith?" Jonathan asked. To his shame, it was only partly because of a pure curiosity.  
  
"It's not her." Marcus replied. He looked away and towards the ground. "She was someone from my past."  
  
Neither of them said a word. Jonathan remembered hearing that the month they spent on the streets had been difficult for the both of them. At times, he had wondered if that was why the twins were initially cold and cruel to him. That it was a misunderstanding that they had grown out of and thus he should abandon his suspicions.  
  
But he could not forget what happened to Danny, even if he could hide it.  
  
"Was she close to you?" He asked.  
  
"Bar Jude, the closest." Marcus frowned and put his arms around his legs. "When we last saw each other, I promised her that Judith and I would live admirably and with pride. She said that was the way into Heaven. I had also promised to protect her."  
  
He knew what he meant. Judith was perhaps the most important person to Marcus.  
  
"I've said too much. We should probably get home." Marcus stood up and Jonathan quickly followed him.   
  
"Oh right, yes! Father's cold has probably started subsiding, now that he has his medicine."  
  
Jonathan turned and dashed towards the Joestar mansion. Jude would probably scold him in some way, but he didn't mind. Behind him, after a bit longer than usual, Marcus quickly caught up to him and both were running alongside each other to see how their father was recovering._  
  
But Father never recovered. Not fully. In the end, he had died to a knife in the back in Jude's last moments before she used his very blood to become a vampire.  
  
How could Martha allow her sister to sink so low? Why did she never try to extend a hand to him or his father? If she couldn't cure her, then surely there had to be someone she made that promise to, if not Judith? Surely there was at least one other person she loved?  
  
 _"I'VE NEVER FELT ANYTHING BUT CONTEMPT FOR THE BASTARD WHO MURDERED OUR MOTHER!"_  
  
Of course. It had to be her.  
  
Martha only cared about her family. That much was obvious. She hated her father and had no other siblings. That left only one person that she could have made that promise to.  
  
The promise to protect Judith.  
  
 _But instead she had allowed Judith to commit atrocity after atrocity. Murder after murder._ Jonathan felt anger rise up inside him. It was bubbling and heating up, just ready to break free.  
  
Jonathan watched as Mister Zeppeli drove Martha back. Speedwagon was crying out in cheer for the Ripple master and yet Jonathan noticed something else. Something that his contemplation only now made him aware of.  
  
He could see Martha being driven towards a hole in the floor. A perfect place to throw her off her game and strike. Only, was Martha not aware of what was happening? Were her instincts on the battlefield failing her? She was in perfect control before.  
  
Yet she had no control. Not where it counted. Maybe that was why Jonathan began to speak.  
  
"Martha, can you even hear my voice?!" He shouted. His voice bounced off the walls. "I know who you made that promise to! You promised it, believing it meant to protect her from the world and make her happy, right? But there is no happiness in despair! Not in her kind! The kind where she spreads it to herself and others merely spreads suffering!"  
  
Martha kept fighting as if she didn't hear him. That only made him shout louder.  
  
"You would simply let Judith decide your fate? You would even throw a knife at an innocent child just for the sake of Jude's dark ambitions?" His grip on Pluck tightened and he continued to speak, even if Martha wasn't listening. "How is that to live an admirable life with pride?! How is that what your mother would have wanted for you or Judith?"  
  
Martha stepped back onto the hole and seemingly slipped. Mister Zeppeli jumped up and readied his Tornado Kick as Speedwagon whooped in the background. He span and the Ripple grew closer to her.  
  
Jonathan was already running as time began to slow down.  
  
He saw Martha bend her legs and leap into the air. He saw her make tiny, almost unreadable, shifts in her position to turn her body and direct herself close enough to Mister Zeppeli.  
  
He saw her bring out the knife and screamed at the top of his lungs.  
  
"Have you never once followed your own belief on what would make her happy, rather than what she thinks would make her happy?!"  
  
It was a single split of a second. It was also enough.  
  
Martha's eyes widened, the hand extending the knife to Mister Zeppeli's neck weakened its grip and she made her cut.  
  
It was a thin cut. Her blow had been sharp enough to break skin and pour out a not inconsiderable amount of blood, but not sharp enough to kill. If they treated him in time, his wound would heal. His Ripple, on the other hand, was a different story.  
  
As the Tornado Kick lost much of its power, Jonathan was still charging ahead and readied Pluck. He pulled back and made for a forward thrust only to stab the air itself.  
  
"JoJo! Mister Zeppeli!" Speedwagon cried out. He and Poco quickly made it to their sides as he fretted over Mister Zeppeli's wound. "If you hadn't arrived in time, she would have surely cut his neck deep enough that he'd have died within seconds!"  
  
"Indeed. I have to thank you, JoJo." Mister Zeppeli said as he put a hand to his wound. It was bleeding more than Jonathan liked, but it didn't seem fatal.  
  
"You should." Martha's voice caught all four by surprise. They turned to see her back to them, facing the wall opposite the door, somehow seeming much taller despite her relatively diminutive figure. She clicked her fingers as a signal to someone, more likely something. "If you are wise, you will use this to turn back and ready your loved ones. Go further and Jude will kill you."  
  
The walls and ceiling had little hatches open to reveal the bears that Jude loved so much. At the same time, the wall Martha faced opened itself to a large enough gap that she and the bears would walk through comfortably.  
  
"Martha-" Jonathan was cut off as Mister Zeppeli grabbed his arm.  
  
"We should retreat, JoJo. If not for her reasons." He glared at Martha's back. "I fear we have underestimated these foes. I had thought time to be of the essence, but perhaps patience is the superior virtue here."  
  
"S-So we're just gonna run with our tails between our legs?!" Speedwagon asked with an appalled tone. In the blink of eye, however, the wall which had opened for Martha shut again.  
  
Zeppeli sighed and stood up, a soft yellow glow around his hand as he pressed against his wound. It was a testament to his experience that he could summon Ripple even now. "Speedwagon, I am not the only Ripple Master in this world, and nor am I the only one who believes in defeating this threat no matter what." He said before whispering under his breath, "Besides...it seems as if my destiny has changed."  
  
Jonathan should have been listening. He should have been relieved beyond all measure that he had somehow saved Mister Zeppeli with his words alone. Yet, he could not move his eyes away from the wall that had just covered up Martha's escape route.  
  
Why had she stopped? Had his words really reached her heart and spared Mister Zeppeli's life?  
  
But then why would she go back?  
  


\---

  
When Martha had returned, Judith didn’t say anything for a while.  
  
She was happy to just slap and kick Martha for a while. When she was done, she told Martha to go patch herself up and then wait in her room for when JoJo and his companions would come.  
  
Martha spat out two teeth, took what she needed, and followed the command to the letter.  
  
It wasn't the first time that Jude had left a mark on her. But it was definitely clear now that Jude's vampirism had made her far stronger.  
  
 _Strong enough that she doesn't need me anymore?_ Martha shook her head at that. A bit too violently for her own liking, but the thought had made her lose control.  _No...she has always needed me. I'm the only one who understands her, after all._  
  
A few hours passed before the Ripple Masters had arrived. Jude had predicted that Zeppeli called for back-up and here they were. One was lithe, almost looked like a woman, and had long silky black hair, another was a beast of a man with large white hair to complete the look, and the apparent leader was a bald, bearded, old man. They had joined JoJo and Zeppeli in being the Ripple-users of the group.  
  
Speedwagon, the boy who tagged along with them, and Jude's latest pet were with them too, but were unimportant.  
  
Martha shouldn't have spared Zeppeli. Not when it meant the numbers were drastically against them. She even had his life in her grasp and was ready to strike the final blow.  
  
So why didn't she?  
  
She couldn't think about that now. She could only stand by her sister's side and get ready for the battle to come.  
  
"JoJo, here's what we're gonna do." Jude clapped her hands and extended them out. If she could extend her arms somehow, she would have been able to wrap them around all of JoJo's group. "We'll just have to make this a team-battle. My team versus your team. Vampires against humans. Whoever wins gets to keep the world for themselves."  
  
"Jude...just what are you planning?" JoJo eyed her suspiciously. Not once did he let up his guard.  
  
"I'm not planning anything. If you're all so confident in your Ripple, then just accept it." Jude's eyes flickered towards the open balcony behind her. "Or maybe I leap out this window and introduce myself fully to the good people of Windknight's Lot."  
  
"Damnit! Jude clearly got a trap in store for us, but we've got no choice! We can't let her escape into the town and infect more people." Speedwagon said. He held up one fist and Martha could see a bead of sweat drip down his face. "If we miss even one and it reaches London..."  
  
"To think we'd be cornered like this...She shows no hesitation in her threats and keeps her cool even when outnumbered." The one called Straits said. Martha wondered if she was just projecting that undercurrent of awe.  
  
"But we will not allow her to cause further destruction." The other one, named Dire, said. He smiled and walked to Zeppeli's side. "How long has it been since we fought side by side, Zeppeli?"  
  
"I will guard the children. Speedwagon, stay behind with me." The bearded man said. He and Speedwagon stepped back and formed a wall around the girl Jude had toyed earlier and her brother. He gave Jude a familiar look of judgement. "Be careful. I can sense the darkness within her. A rare strain of near-perfect calculation and madness mixed into one."  
  
Jude smirked and let out a cold mist from her mouth. Martha, meanwhile, became acutely aware of the machine guns strapped to her back. She also had her knives ready in case.  
  
"Martha, make yourself useful and get onto the frontlines. I don't want to face any weaklings when breaking them down. Can you do that? Are you still able to do the one thing you're good at?" Jude sneered as she spoke. Martha deserved such treatment for her earlier failures.  
  
Her eyes remained on JoJo as she readied herself. Her arms reached back for the guns strapped to her back. "JoJo, before this fight starts, I want us to settle this. I want this to end. Just for a minute, we alone fight. Then the others can join."  
  
"Fine." JoJo replied. His voice didn't waver and Martha didn't know how to feel about that.  
  
The two of them faced the other down. Neither of them were willing to be the first to look away from the other's eye. To do so would be to show the weakness of their resolve. Martha refused to let Jonathan get the upper-hand again.  
  
"JoJo should lack his former unease, now that he has Jude herself in front of him. He can act knowing that he will be stopping the greatest evil this world has ever known." Speedwagon said aloud. "But will it be enough against Martha's modified Maxim machine-guns?"  
  
Martha moved in a flash. Her firearms were wrenched from her back and were now in her arms. Both machine-guns were aimed right at Jonathan. Speed was going to be the key factory. She'd have to target the lungs and throat, if she wanted to get anywhere, but had to keep mind of his using Ripple on his sword as protection.  
  
 _Or take out the others. If we make it just JoJo and Jude, she'll turn him and then she'll turn you._  
  
The former sounded much less enticing. The idea of Jonathan losing his humanity just felt...wrong to her. Yet she could not think further as she had to keep up her guard against Jonathan at all times.  
  
"Martha, you don't have to do this." JoJo said. It was a familiar tune, but this time it was a warning rather than a plea. This would be her final chance.  
  
She moved her hands to her back and pulled out her guns. She also had knives strapped to her, in case she had to go close-quarters. "JoJo, your words earlier made me hesitate. That's a mistake I will not repeat. I live to ensure that Jude will have a life of happiness and peace. Nothing you can do will make me leave her and when she gives me the Stone Mask, we will have eternity with one another over a world bent to her whims."  
  
"That's right! There's only one thing that'll get in the way of that." Jude declared. Martha presumed it was a trap of some kind, going by how JoJo's eyes widened. But why was there a chill crawling up her spine and- "Space Ripper Stingy Eyes!"  
  
She heard the sound so similar to when one of the pipes at home had burst and a thin yet deadly jet of water shot out. It had burst the eye of one of the maids and JoJo had practically carried her to the doctor's. Jude had found it hilarious and worth the cut on her fingers from sabotage.  
  
She heard the gasps of shock from those facing her. She even heard loud footsteps.  
  
She saw JoJo run towards her, faster than she ever imagined. She saw and felt him grab hold of her arms. She could feel herself being spun around a ninety-degree angle.  
  
She felt the sharp touch of something slice through the front of her shirt. Otherwise, however, she was unharmed.  
  
"JoJo!" Zeppeli shouted, his voice joined by Speedwagon and the boy's.  
  
Martha's senses caught up her with. The scent of blood filled the air, frantic panicking was all she heard, and yet every last bit of her attention was on Jonathan collapsing to the ground with two holes on his front right side and his back left side.  
  
It could have only come from behind Martha.  
  
"He leapt in front and moved Martha away before she could be pierced by that attack." Speedwagon muttered. He jabbed a finger at Judith's direction. "Jude! You were going to stab your own sister in the back. After she pledged her loyalty to you? Just when I thought you were the lowest kind of scum."  
  
Jude, however, paid no mind to him and instead gazed intensely at JoJo. A second of suffocating silence passed before she laughed. She looked Speedwagon in the eye and Martha felt her sister's bloodlust wash over her. "You want to know how scum acts? You want to see what kind of despair can top trying to murder your sister, only to wound your brother? Here it is, Speedwagon!"  
  
Just as with the Chamber of the Dual-Headed Dragon, the entrances both open and secret were shattered under the weight of the zombies. The people of Windknight's lot, those kidnapped by Jack the Ripper and Martha herself, and even some of Jude's own prizes were shambling towards everyone. The hunger was obvious in their eyes.  
  
The Ripple masters and Speedwagon readied themselves to both fight and protect the two children, but Martha somehow knew that they were not the targets. Not the primary ones, at least.  
  
All of their attention was focused on Martha and JoJo. Jude wouldn't have made it any other way.  
  
Martha moved on instinct throwing herself under one of Jonathan's arms and using all of her strength to lift him up with her. She moved quickly so that she could join up with the other humans that could help him. She barely paid attention to the machine-gun she had dropped.  
  
She was confused. Her entire world had shattered to pieces before her eyes. Nothing made sense.  
  
Why was Jude trying her hardest to kill her? Weren't those just empty words to feel despair with? And why had Jonathan risked his life to save her?  
  
For the sake of her escape, and peace of mind, she pushed those questions to the back of her mind and ran.  
  


\---

  
"Where is it? Where is it?!"  
  
Speedwadon was witness to a bizarre event.  
  
Martha Cutler, the woman who was feared amongst Ogre Street even at her young age, the woman who killed without hesitation, was fretting over a medicine cabinet. It might have been a grim comedy to see her get it so wrong, if it weren't for JoJo's life being in danger.  
  
Jude clearly did not care for good organization. Most had no labels and those that did were either in Latin or English but not as Speedwagon knew it. He'd been a decent student academically back at the parish, where all the poor kids without parents to support went instead of work, until getting kicked out for fights, but this was beyond him!  
  
JoJo might have been able to figure it out, with his rich-folk learning, but seeing Martha fail didn't inspire confidence. There must have been a clue for which would help with blood loss! Some of the bottles lacked the dust to have been a part of the castle. He imagined it was for Martha's sake. It was a clue though!  
  
Everyone had followed Martha to this room. A foul place with walls caked in blood and the floor was littered with men merged with animals, all of them pleading for death, and all warning them to not trust Martha.  
  
Mister Zeppeli, Dire, Straits, and Tonpetty did what had to be done, whilst Poco's sister covered his eyes and ears even before they entered this room.  
  
Hell on the outside and hell on the inside.  
  
 _Jude...is this the monstrosity that the Stone Mask enables?_ Speedwagon knew the true answer to that question. He look again at Martha panicking. She had paid no mind to the cursed creations of her sister, only paying mind to the medicine cabinets.  _She doesn't even blink at them. Should I curse her for doing nothing at least, or even assisting in this? Or should I be happy she knew about this room._  
  
JoJo's wound had damaged his Ripple. He was coming in and out of consciousness, but it was clear that Jude's cowardly strike had disrupted his breathing and caused him to bleed. It didn't look good even if they had all the time in the world.  
  
As it was, Dire and Straits were channelling their Ripple through the door as a sort of shield against the zombie hordes. At times, Mister Zeppeli and Tonpetty would take up their role, and they would then help close Jonathan's injuries. The problem was that the zombies caught on, or Jude caught on, and they were using battering rams instead.  
  
Mister Zeppeli and Tonpetty had just returned to healing him when someone spoke up.  
  
"How much blood is he losing?" Martha asked.  
  
"Not enough to perish, so long as I help him." Tonpetty replied. He was kneeling over Jonathan's unconscious body and doing all he could. "But we will not be able to fully protect ourselves for long. Judith Eydris seems determined that we be slaughtered."  
  
"She's making us fight her zombies as well. All while she could have gone back on her word and savaged the town." Dire hissed as another zombie tried to claw their way in through the wall beside the door. A swat of his wrist fixed that.  
  
Martha shook her head. "No. That's not her. She wouldn't do something so easy."  
  
"Are we simply to believe you?" Straits asked. Speedwagon would be lying if he said he wasn't wondering the same. Yet his next words fired up Speedwagon's blood for the opposite reason. "Have we simply let a fox into the hen-house because of Joestar's naivety and foolishness-"  
  
"Straits, while I agree that we should not trust Martha, I will not allow you to insult my student." Mister Zeppeli glared at him before turning back. "JoJo had his reasons. It falls to Martha to prove him right. If she wished us dead, she would have lead us to a dead-end or a trap."  
  
Speedwagon wondered just what it was that JoJo saw that made him act. Was it empathy for someone to be betrayed? Familial love? Or did he wish to repay her for not killing Mister Zeppeli?  
  
He didn't know, but he was sure it was a good a reason as any.  
  
Martha, on her end, only grew more frantic in her search. She would find a bottle or plant, say the name on the label as best she could or show it to Tonpetty, and he would shake his head. She would then begin the search all over again.  
  
"Having a hard time looking for the good stuff? Well I wouldn't exactly leave a lot of the medicine that can  _fix_ people, now would I? Where's the fun in tearing them apart? More than twice, I mean."  
  
The voice came from all corners. There was no way of knowing where she was; the walls, the ceiling, the floor, who knew? Everyone readied their guard without a second thought.  
  
"Vampiric powers are enough anyway. Most zombies' bodies know how to rebuild themselves, once you've stitched up the right pieces. But thanks anyway for killing my pets. Now I've only got one dumb mutt left. A dumb mutt who ended up killing your friend."  
  
"Jude!" Martha elation gave way to a desperate defiance. "He won't die!"  
  
"He will. He died because he got in the way of a despair finer than any other I knew." Jude replied. "I mean, you could turn him. That might help."  
  
Martha's face paled at the thought. Normally, Speedwagon would trust the part of him that thought it was true, but this was Martha Cutler. One half of the Despair Sisters.  
  
That was why, even as the sounds outside came to silence themselves, none of the Ripple Masters let up their guard. Some even turned their eyes to Martha.  
  
"What?" Martha whispered.  
  
"If you turn him, he'll become a monster so powerful that he'll easily help you all escape. If I give the word, he'll either tear you apart or save you. Will love conquer all? Let's find out."  
  
"We won't allow you to do that!" Speedwagon would never allow a man like JoJo to become corrupted like that.  
  
"Is the side-character really questioning things?" Jude sneered. Yet her attention fell back towards Martha and her voice took on a sharper edge. "I know you have it. You stole it from my room while I was ranting about how much of a piece of shit you were. I bet you were gonna use it after we killed everyone."  
  
"Is she-" Mister Zeppeli's eyes widened. "Martha, tell me where it is. It must be destroyed!"  
  
"Yeah, isn't that what they all came here to do?" Jude asked, finding the very idea amusing. "Or maybe you want it. If JoJo dies, you can use it to bring him back! Or maybe you wanted him dead and then, when you became a vampire, you could pretend you lost your feelings for him with your humanity."  
  
Speedwagon didn't understand it. Just what did Judith want from the sister she tried to murder? Surely, she didn't think she would get what she wanted, right?  
  
"Come on...he could be all yours..." Jude said. "What was the name of that country girl? Erina? I know how you'd feel whenever he'd make a face about her. I know you wanted to be the one he'd come charging through the doors for in the name of their dignity. If he was a human, he'd never date a smelly, cross-dressing, gun-nut killer who has a thing for her vampire sister. He'd go for someone like Erina. But a vampire? A vampire would eat you all up."  
  
No one spoke and no one moved. All eyes had now fallen on the completely-still Martha. Mister Zeppeli's body tensed as he readied to intervene in case Martha tried anything.  
  
Who knew that a few seconds could feel like a century?  
  
Then Judith sighed in defeat. Far too loudly for it to have been honest. "But the third shelf, fifth bottle to the right, should have a bottle of blood. It's enough to fill him up while his buddies do the rest. Infuse it into JoJo's body and he should be up and ready to fight."  
  
"Th-Thank you, Jude." Martha shot her hand towards that bottle and threw it over to Tonpetty's hands without question.  
  
Without hesitation, he threw it on the ground. The bottle shattered and the scent of copper filled the room.  
  
Speedwagon wished he could say he was surprised. None of the others, except for one person, showed any reaction beyond distaste for Jude's attempt at tricky. The only one who showed emotion was the only one fooled. Martha seemed appalled that he would even do such a thing.  
  
Then a cold and unforgiving voice cut through the tension with five words.  
  
"...You really disappoint me, Martha."  
  


\---

  
Disappointment was not Despair.  
  
Disappointment was when one had been drained of Despair.  
  
That was what it meant for Judith Eydris.  
  
Martha Cutler's mind was in a flux. Her sense of certainty was gone. Jude had wanted her dead back at her room and had now made it clear that she cared little for Martha's efforts to save JoJo. She had lied to her again.  
  
But perhaps her mind had always been in somewhat of a flux. Maybe she had simply pushed it away and buried it to continue fighting, but it still remained.  
  
Martha had always done what Jude wanted. If Jude wanted something done, someone hurt, or someone killed, Martha would do it. She bore no grudge against people or the world, other than those who hurt who she cared for, such as her father, but if Jude wished it then it would be done.  
  
But this was different. Martha did not want to die. She wanted to be there for Judith. And she did not want to kill JoJo either. He had saved her life earlier, and even before that he had touched her heart.  
  
The past seven years had seen her connection with the world grow. Most of it was easy to bury, such as George Joestar's offer of fatherhood, when remembering his sharp lessons to JoJo, but there were a few that remained. A few she did her best to ignore.  
  
Until Jonathan had brought up her mother. Until he questioned whether Judith actually knew what she wanted.  
  
This wasn't the time for such thoughts though. Jude was talking.  
  
"You didn't even blink." She spat the words out like over-salted food. "Why would I give him actual human blood that his body wouldn't reject?! A normal person would have been suspicious, but not even my predictions saw you being this dumb! Just some stupid dog who only knows how to burn other dogs! Screw it. Fight me."  
  
"Wh-What?" Martha had to hear that again. Surely Jude hadn't said what she thought she said.  
  
"You heard me. Stay there while I go down and kill you. Or maybe you'll kill me." Jude replied with her tone lightening up by that last bit.  
  
"No! I'd never kill you!" Martha howled. "I'm the only one who understands you. I'm the one who protects you. I can't hurt you!"  
  
Not even the zombies made a noise. They merely shuffled further and further away from the door. It was as if they sensed that Jude had wished to punish Martha with her own hands.  
  
She waited for it. The cruel words or Judith charging down to deliver the worst beating in her life.  
  
"...Martha..." Jude let the silence hang in the air before she said the words Martha feared she'd never hear in her life. "I love you. I really do. I'm grateful for all you've done. Maybe I shouldn't have threatened JoJo. I know what he means to you."  
  
It sounded like sisterly teasing. A gentle jab at a crush she held for a boy she couldn't have. Judith was saying all the words she wanted to be told. All the sentiments that Martha believed she had for her, deep down, beneath all the cruelties she visited on her.  
  
In her darkest moments, Martha had prayed that it was true.  
  
But she knew what this meant. Jude hurt her because she wanted to feel the despair of hurting the one closest to her heart. So if she was showing her sincere love and affection, then it meant only one thing...  
  
The thought made her quiver and stumble, before she heard stones crack above her.  
  
A brief shine and piercing pain electrified her senses. She barely turned her head and saw a bright pink line piercing through her left shoulder and into her chest. It came out by her right upper-leg. Standing up became near impossible.  
  
So why not fall to the ground?  
  
"An ambush! She was above us all along!" Speedwagon said. He sounded so far away despite being so close. "Mister Zeppeli, is it possible that she heard us?"  
  
"To be this precise? No. Not even a vampire could go through so many levels. I doubt she has even left her room as well." He replied to Speedwagon's horror.  
  
"You mean...it was simply her calculation that Martha would be standing on that spot?! She somehow predicted the exact point?!"  
  
"We have to escape! Master Tonpetty, we should take our chances with the horde!" Dire shouted. He and Straits cried out as they made their strikes.  
  
"But what about JoJo?! He'll be a sitting duck." Speedwagon pleaded.  
  
As Martha laid on the ground and her vision was bordered by darkness, she could barely hear them argue. Straits suggest leaving Jonathan in this room whilst Dire pointed out the risk of death. Zeppeli, Tonpetty, and Speedwagon all favoured trying to focus on healing him. Even in cold logic, they would need another fighter.  
  
Not one of them noticed her crawling on the floor. Blood oozed out from her and formed a deep puddle.  
  
That didn't matter. Martha had finally felt it. She finally understood it.  
  
 _So this is to feel Despair,_ Martha tried to laugh and instead let out a few soft rasps.  _The Despair of having a sister truly and sincerely desire you dead. To have her cast aside everything you have done for her. To know that your beloved mother had been failed._  
  
How could she say that she was the only to understand Judith? She had never felt like this in her life. To think that this was what Jude knew and desired for her whole life.  
  
"I'm sorry, Judith. I've been a bad sister." Martha spoke without emotion. She might as well have been a machine.  
  
The fifth cobblestone from the wall opposite the door and the third from the left wall.  
  
Judith never guessed it, or maybe she did and planned to seize it later. That didn't matter.  
  
"I'll do better now. Because I understand," Martha had to use all her strength to flip the stone over. Passion returned to her voice. "I'll make you happy by showing you a new despair. I'll save JoJo and the others. I'll ruin your plans, every last remnant of it, and I'll do it for you."  
  
Jude was stuck between the pleasure and pain of Despair. She danced along the edge and and planned to have that edge grow until it devoured the world.  
  
Martha was stuck between Judith's Despair and the hope that JoJo gave her. Inside that void, however, was where she refined herself into something new.  
  
She was not acting out of hatred or revenge. This was an act of mercy born from love.  
  
"What is-" A voice she did not know began to panic. Was it Zeppeli? It didn't matter. "No! Don't let her put it on!"  
  
It was too late. None of them would be quick enough to stop her from pressing the Stone Mask against her head with blood-stained fingers. None of them would stop her from rejecting her humanity all for Judith's sake.  
  
Her vision darkened and she let the unknown wash over her.  
  
She felt spines made from stone pierce through skin and bone as  _something_ filled both skull and brain was something. Martha had no words to describe it, but knew the power that suddenly surged through her entire head. It was as if she had devoured every meal in her life and felt only hungrier rather than full. Strength like none other filled her muscles.  
  
Her eyes were pure light until the mask dropped from her face.  
  
Martha regarded the fear-stricken expressions with apathy. They were not important. She could smell the blood in their bodies, however, and that certainly felt important. It made her mouth water and her pupils constrict and the hunger and thirst and raw desire filled her. She wanted nothing more than to pierce her fangs into them and-  
  
She heard it. Cracking through endless floors of stone. Martha acted on instinct alone and took a step forward. Behind her, she felt the floor she stood on crack behind her, and foul words from above came dripping down. Only Martha could hear them, with her new ears, and she remembered.  
  
Martha remembered her little sister and the vow she made about her.  
  
 _I'll protect you, Jude. Even if you scream and cry about your big sister bullying you, I won't stop._ Martha moved with a speed she never imagined. A speed closer the movement of a bird's wings, or rather a hawk swooping down to its prey.  
  
None of them could even touch her. Not Straits, not Dire, not Tonpetty, and definitely not Zeppeli who tried his hardest. Oh, she felt the sting of their Ripple and the burning touch even close contact with it left, but it did not touch her. She knew the perfect path to take and walked it.  
  
The door shattered and Martha was free to do what had to be done.  
  
If Judith wished to revel in despair then Martha would give her that despair. She would make sure her little sister was provided for.  
  
Martha would live to make sure her sister would know eternal happiness.  
  
She moved across the hallways and up a single flight of stairs when she saw them. All of them were rampacked along the second flight and the hallways to her left and right, and all of them were staring at her with hunger in their eyes.  
  
Leave it to Jude to execute an ambush plan like this.  
  
Martha didn't give them the chance to run at her; she charged at them first.  
  


\---

  
Martha Cutler as a human had been among the weaker end of her kind.  
  
By 'kind', it means all those named Martha Cutler, Marcus Cutler, Mukuro Ikusaba, 'Junko Enoshima', and a thousand other names, but one person. A freckled elder sibling who just wanted to make their younger twin happy. To find a way to alleviate their frustration and suffering with the world around them.  
  
At her peak, Martha Cutler surpassed a strength equal to that of a hundred men. However, she did not have the military training of Mukuro Ikusaba, but instead street-fighting, boxing, judo, fencing, and shooting knowledge. An admirable array of skills, but not the sort of training attained from years with a mercenary group travelling the world.  
  
That did not mean that Martha Cutler was not strong.  
  
Before, she could not slay a single vampire. She was at the peak of normal humans, but may as well have been at the peak of a monkey compared to a human. Only with a small army of zombies helping out could she slay a monster like Tarkus and that was including some heavy firepower.  
  
But she still killed him. A human without Ripple was able to kill Tarkus. A human without Ripple was able to slay William A. Zeppeli and survive a barrage from Jonathan Joestar at the height of his power. Such a human could never exist in most worlds.  
  
So when Martha Cutler attained the power of the Stone Mask; imagine how much she had evolved. How much stronger she had become. How much quicker she had become. How much more dangerous she had become.  
  
When she cut herself off from her soul and became nothing but the killer, she could fight over a hundred men before being overwhelmed.  
  
Now? Now she could likely fight against ten thousand men and still come out on top.  
  
When Martha moved, she left after-images in her wake. When Martha struck, the force of her blow would send whole groups of zombies flying away in spite of not being hit themselves.  
  
When Martha put on that Stone Mask, she had become the most powerful person on the planet.  
  
A zombie could never defeat a vampire. Only the Ripple could do so and there was no Ripple-user on the planet who would even think of stopping her rampage at the moment. A few bold souls would even encourage her in what she was doing now!  
  
She had known a way to temporarily discard her humanity and become nothing more than a killing machine in the past. Now, she could combine that state of mind, enabling her body to reach a level far beyond any normal human, with the insane powers and abilities of a vampire.  
  
A tidal wave of black-and-white bears and monsters created for Judith's own amusement and torture-sessions tried to wash over Martha and swallow her whole. A chorus of open jaws reached out and attempted to bite into the body of the heretic their master wanted struck down. All of them hungered.  
  
All of them died.  
  
The idea of the Space Ripper Stingy Eyes was brilliant. Martha, even now, admired her sister for thinking of such an amazing skill. Now she truly understood how difficult it was to pull of, and how amazing Judith was for managing it.  
  
But it was still turning the body into a weapon. Weapons were Martha's speciality.  
  
It happened in the blink of an eye, as if time itself had stopped. Along her arms and legs, her veins cracked open and her blood spat out in a long and winding stream. They splashed over the zombies until every one of them surrounding her had a thin red line across their bodies at some angle. All of them must have thought it hilarious.  
  
Only their bodies were sliced apart before they could say anything. Those on the backlines quickly took their fallen brethren's place and lined up to die.  
  
Martha's arms and legs had become sharper than any blade on the planet. Her punches and kicks were deadlier than artillery shells. Her senses were beyond all but a handful of people on this very planet. All of this and she was facing against Judith's minions.  
  
Her victory was inevitable.  
  
With a loud 'wrrryyy', she signalled her intention to continue slaughtering her way up the castle and towards Judith herself. She had to force Jude to submit and end her plan for wiping out all life on earth. She could not allow Jude to kill JoJo or his friends, but neither could she allow her to die.  
  
It was that thought that drove her on.  
  
It was that thought that distracted her.  
  
"Martha. I love you."  
  
For not even a second. For perhaps not even a minisecond, Martha stopped fighting and was completely still.  
  
That was when Judith's warmth, even when her body barely had any heat, pressed against her back.  
  
"Upupupu. Martha, do you ever remember what happens when you forget about me?" Jude asked. Her mocking tone seeped into Martha's ear and she didn't know if she shuddered in delight or discomfort at her sister's voice. "You end up falling to bits."  
  
Martha had just had her right arm and left leg ripped off. Behind her, Judith Eydris laughed uproariously and leapt upwards back into the shadows and far from Martha's senses. A loud war-cry from the room above, followed by more zombie groans, suggested that this was a plan.  
  
Fine. Martha would just kill them too. She didn't need more than two limbs to handle these jokes. Not when she had attained the ultimate power above all others.  
  
That didn't mean she didn't pray harder for JoJo's recovery.  
  


\---

  
When Jonathan awoke, it was to the nervous expression on Speedwagon's face that gave way to joyful relief. He briefly also made note of the fact that Speedwagon, with the help of Poco and his sister, was also holding him up as they walked down a hallway.  
  
"He's awake! JoJo's awake again!" Speedwagon cried out. He was almost on the verge of joyful tears. "It's good to see you again. We need you now more than ever."  
  
"Speedwagon?" Jonathan's vision cleared and he saw everyone. Everyone expect one person. "Where's-"  
  
"Martha Cutler has rejected her humanity and become a beast of the night. To save her own life, she took that desperate measure." Mister Zeppeli replied. He dipped the tip of his hat to hide his eyes. Likely from disappointment. "I can only imagine she has joined with her sister."  
  
"Regardless, we must continue the fight. We are the last line of defence." Tonpetty's words were taken as law.  
  
"Putting on the Stone Mask...even after seeing what it had done to her sister." Poco's sister muttered.  
  
Speedwagon shook his head. "No. Judith was always that much of a rotten soul. Her actions had merely been another step in her search for pleasure."  
  
"In such despair, I can see why Martha would want to deny herself a human heart." Straits added.  
  
Jonathan could barely believe it. It should have been likely to him that Martha would follow her sister anywhere, even down the road to hell itself, but to actually do it? To discard her humanity like that?  
  
 _I had thought she might have been willing to try and change. She had spared Mister Zeppeli for a reason, right?_ Jonathan wondered if he had simply been wrong. If he had mistaken Martha's actions and believed her capable of redemption.  
  
Before he could ask them to explain what had happened, the cries and roars of zombies above caught their attention. It was time for them to enter the fray once again.  
  
"JoJo, are you good to fight?" Poco asked. His sister was horrified by the question.  
  
"Poco! He's still injured!" She cried out. Jonathan raised a hand and forced himself onto his feet. It was thankfully easier as time went on.  
  
"No. I feel better already. I imagine it came from the efforts of everyone here. I cannot thank you enough." He said. Mister Zeppeli and Tonpetty nodded in reply.  
  
"You can thank us by showing the extent of your training. Zeppeli has spoken highly of your ability and we'll have need of it." Straits replied. His tone implied he had been disappointed by Jonathan's record so far, if doing his best to hide it.  
  
They walked through the hallways and followed the sounds of battle as best they could. Not a single zombie could be allowed to escape and Jude was unpredictable. They'd have to dispose of her army first.  
  
Jonathan walked on his own two feet. He appreciated the help so far, but meant to prove himself now. He had let himself slip up too much since that fight with Bruford. He had to prove himself worthy of his Ripple.  
  
Yet it seemed at first that he would have to wait for that chance.  
  
As they climbed the stairs, what they found was a field of corpses extending upwards. Their corpses had stumbled down the steps and were almost a barricade in their own right. Nothing that a bit of Ripple couldn't burn away.  
  
It was what they saw after clearing the stairs that truly boggled the mind.  
  
Five zombies were biting on Martha's sides and right arm. Martha, however, seemed little inconvenienced as she wrenched her arm from the jaws of one zombie, ripping his jaw off as a result. With it, she smashed it through the skulls of the other zombies. Their heads quickly became a cloud of blood and bone fragments.  
  
Her left leg was wrapped around the neck of another zombie which she then pressed against. Its eyes bulged before its head exploded into a similar mess.  
  
All this in one second.  
  
It was like her battle with Mister Zeppeli. She was moving without restraint or inhibition. Every move was decided on pure instinct alone and was somehow perfectly accurate. She moved as if this was what she had been doing for her whole life non-stop.  
  
The zombies and bears kept running towards her. The plan must have been for them to swarm her with their numbers. If so, then that was an empty dream, for Martha did not appear tired at all. She seemed only bothered slightly by the missing arm.  
  
Just how many people had Judith turned? The amount here must have been equal to the entire population of Windknight's Lot itself!  
  
"W-What is this?! Martha has become a vampire, but is still fighting against Jude's zombies?" Speedwagon asked. His confusion was shared by everyone else, Jonathan included.  
  
"Be careful. It may simply be a power struggle. Martha could have lost even the affection she felt for Jude." Mister Zeppeli warned.  
  
"So we simply wait for one side to tear the other apart?" Straits asked even though he knew the answer.  
  
"It is not honourable, but one has to put humanity over themselves when fighting an enemy like this." Dire said. His unhappiness was obvious but he still did nothing to help the vampire.  
  
Jonathan understood what they meant. Mister Zeppeli probably had more experience with vampires and zombies than Jonathan could ever imagine. He would know more than anyone how a vampire no longer had human bonds for which they cared for. All that mattered to them was their hunger.  
  
 _But why did she lose an arm? Why is her leg without clothing?_ Jonathan asked himself. It was almost as if it had regenerated after being torn off.  _Martha was already one of the strongest fighters I've ever seen. Jude wasn't nearly as strong until she put on the Stone Mask and became nigh-unstoppable. So how did someone hurt Martha?_  
  
Martha was by no means losing completely. But there was a clear sign that even she was beginning to slow and have troubles. The mere fact that Martha was wounded made alarms go off in Jonathan's head.  
  
He could count the number of times that she'd been hit as a human on his hand. As a vampire, with her strength and speed, it should have been near-impossible! Doubly so for a wound like the one she suffered. The only way that was possible was if she'd been surprised.  
  
Only Judith could ever do that.  
  
As they looked on, it was obvious that missing an arm was affecting Martha. Her leg as well seemed to still be regenerating properly, its movements slower and its strength less than its left counterpart. The zombies were clearly taking notice and focusing on those areas.  
  
It'd be smart to stay back and not risk triggering some kind of trap. If even one of them died, it'd be a disaster for the fight to save humanity. They had to be pragmatic.  
  
So Jonathan didn't know why he was rushing forward. He didn't know why he had Pluck raised at the ready. He certainly didn't know why he was focusing his Ripple around the sword.  
  
Behind him were cries and pleas and shouts for him to turn back. He forced himself to ignore them and focused more on the five bears about to leap onto Martha's back. He pulled back his blade and called out to Martha.  
  
"Martha, duck!" Jonathan roared as he swung Pluck towards the zombies.  
  
At the sound of his voice, she moved in an instant. A clean swipe cut through all five of the bears, as his Ripple destroyed their corpses, whilst Martha's hands moved fast enough to leave after-images. The result was that the zombies surrounding her and turning their attention to him were turned into pile of flesh and blood.  
  
The other zombies temporarily stopped in their assault. A brief reprieve before they would try their tactics yet again.  
  
Martha looked up at Jonathan with confusion and gratitude. She must have realising the growing disadvantage as well. Her face was probably red from the constant fighting too.  
  
"JoJo, get back! You cannot trust her!" Mister Zeppeli was already moving forward and readying for a fight.  
  
"Mister Zeppeli!" Jonathan cried out. "I could be acting like a fool among fools. I may be letting sentimentality blind me, but I must ask you to trust me! I believe that Martha will not harm us. I believe that Martha may be fighting on our side! If I am wrong, please, Tonpetty, tell me."  
  
Tonpetty's abilities involving prophecy had been explained to him by Zeppeli when they first met. By holding the hand of another, he could see into their future. He could even sometimes read the true emotions in a person's heart.  
  
Admittedly, his prophesying was not as accurate as he once thought. He even admitted it himself.  
  
 _"It seems as if Fate has been blunted. I no longer see your death as it was." Tonpetty nodded with a soft smile to Mister Zeppeli. "Zeppeli, I believe that whatever Jonathan Joestar did has proven to give you a future. An uncertain one filled with mystery, but a future still."_  
  
Tonpetty closed his eyes and focused on Martha. Even as his eyes seemed shut, it was as if he was gazing at Martha more intently than he ever could with open eyes.  
  
"I do not see a kind heart in her. Nor do I see one that believes in the survival of humanity for its own sake," Jonathan's heart weakened at the words. Was he truly wrong about her? "But...I do see in her the desire to save humanity. Her motives are corrupted, but they are her own and they will not allow her to betray us. I will not say she is a good person. However, if we are to end Jude and the legacy of the Stone Mask, we will need her help."  
  
Mister Zeppeli remained uncertain, just as Dire and Straits were. Jonathan could understand it, even if he did not agree.  
  
But it was Speedwagon who spoke up first.  
  
"I remember the Martha Cutler who bashed my head with a rock, thinking I knew something about a sandcastle being destroyed. I remember smelling an evil soul a mile away. The stench is there...but it's weaker than before." Speedwagon turned to Jonathan and smiled whilst giving a thumbs up. "And if JoJo gives his word that we can trust her, I'll buy it! A man like him may be a softie, but he doesn't give excuses for evil either."  
  
"I may never truly believe in her, or in your faith in her." Mister Zeppeli said before sighing in defeat. "But I do not have the luxury of stubbornness. If I believe she'll turn her back on us, I'll fight her with all I have."  
  
"You'll have to get in line. Your friends will probably feel the same." Martha merely replied.  
  
As they spoke, however, the zombies were beginning to rally again. Despite Martha's considerable efforts, there were still more of them than Jonathan could count. With their numbers together, and Martha's still missing arm, it might have been trouble for her.  
  
Jonathan readied his sword and Martha let out a soft cry of 'wrrryyy'. Neither of them were willing to give ground.  
  
So that was why they took the initiative to charge and strike first.  
  
Martha needed only her limbs to tear apart the body parts of her enemies. She even tried to drain them of their blood so that she could quicken the regenerating of her own arm. Its effectiveness was mixed at best, but that didn't stop her from fighting on.  
  
Jonathan used his Ripple to cut swathes through the masses. Their 'plan' to use their numbers meant little in these narrow pathways when Jonathan had the power to slay them with a single good strike. It was the same when Mister Zeppeli, Straits, Dire, and Tonpetty joined them. Whole groups of the undead were slain in but an instant.  
  
Martha seemed more discomforted by the Ripple than her enemies. A few stray bits of Ripple energy managed to burn through her skin itself. It wasn't as if she could do anything to stop it as well. She just had to focus on the enemy in front of her.  
  
It was always amazing to see her in action. Jonathan had been raised to believe that the battlefield was no place for a woman to fight on. Yet Martha moved with such fluidity and precision that it made him wonder if her name for the past seven years was more accurate than she envisioned.  
  
It was Martha who opened the gaps in the enemy's wall of bodies. By the time that Martha's arm grew back, it was like seeing a million turn to ten million, as her pace quickened and Jonathan could barely keep track of the after-images whilst fighting his own battles.  
  
As time went on, the number of zombies fell further and further until there were none left. They were nothing but a sea of broken-off limbs and charred corpses.  
  
Now all that was left was Jude.  
  
There was no time to deliberate or discuss about Martha. Jonathan led the charge upstairs and towards the same room where Jude had struck him before. The wounds still stung as ever, but his steady breathing alleviated the pain somewhat. He was ready for the fight ahead.  
  
That was especially the case with Mister Zeppeli, his fellow Ripple Masters, and Martha were fighting alongside him.  
  
Yet when they smashed the door open and readied themselves for any trap. What they found instead was a sight so pitiful it was almost comedic. If it were for the atrocities she had committed, it may have even been enough to make him laugh.  
  
Lying on the wall to the left of the balcony was Jude. There were no zombies or moving bears. Just a single stuffed toy that Jude had her right arm around.  
  
"Urrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!" Jude let out a long and unladylike groan as she even began kicking her feet at the floor. "Couldn't even die right! You just all had to team up and you all had to come together. Come on, Zeppeli! You clearly have something personal with vampires. Why not do a quick back-stab?"  
  
"The difference between a man and a fool is the ability to hold back grudges." Mister Zeppeli replied, showing nothing but contempt for Judith.  
  
"Jude," Martha spoke with a rare firmness towards her sister. She stepped forward in front of the group. "You will not create any more zombies. This is the end."  
  
"I know. I know." Jude replied with the tone of a scolded child.  
  
"But I think we were always going to lose," Martha continued. She spoke as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "JoJo...he has a will and drive much like yours. Only he never allows himself a moment to put himself over others. He fights with everything and his determination is something you could never predict. That's why you wanted to kill me and turn him. So you could make him lose everything he believed in. So....  
  
"That's why I'll protect it. That inspiring will that creates hope inside all those around them. I'll make sure it blossoms and survives and that you will never be able to destroy it. You'll see all of it...and know Despair."  
  
Neither Jonathan nor his friends said anything. Yet he knew that he wasn't the only one who felt something crawl inside his skin. It was not an actual creature, but merely the discomfort that came from witnessing these two sisters act towards one another.  
  
Yet Martha didn't seem to care, nor did Judith.  
  
"Really?" Jude raised an eyebrow. "You finally defeat me and this is what you have?" With a loud groan, she began to stretch herself and regarded Martha with a dismissive glance. "Guess it's Plan B. Just run and create zombies wherever I go. Think I'll go with Windknight's Lot first. I really wanted to sic JoJo on it after zombifying him, but you just had to ruin it. Damnit, Martha, you really were disappointing. You're going to give me despair? Honestly, Dad was right about y-"  
  
Jonathan had expected Martha to respond to that. He thought maybe she would shout, or that she would make a threatening gesture of some kind. A display of independence, as it was.  
  
He did not expect her to punch just next to where Jude's right eye was.  
  
A memory from years ago surfaced in his mind as he saw how Jude put a hand to her face. She seemed to be checking if her eye was loosened and appeared completely shocked. It was like she had never before expected something like this. For all her analysis, she had never seen it coming.  
  
Martha's whole form shook. Jonathan knew better than to think it was from rage. He half-expected her to rip off her own hand or to fall to her knees and beg forgiveness. Anything for Jude's forgiveness.  
  
But she didn't. She stood tall and stared Jude down.  
  
Jude looked to her sister eye to eye. Jonathan was ready to intervene if necessary. He could never understand what went through her head but had learned to guess when she was about to strike. There were no emotions on her face. She could begin fighting seriously and-  
  
Judith Eydris burst into tears.  
  
"Waaaaaaaaa!!!! Big Sis is so mean! She makes me do weird stuff in bed and then betrays me for JoJo!" Jude wailed as she wiped her tears childishly with balled fists. She turned her back and began to run away with the bear by her side. "Fine! I don't wanna play with you anymore! I'm gonna leave and I'm never gonna talk to you again!"  
  
The mere sight of seeing Jude act like this had thrown him off. He had to take a second to realise that Jude had already hopped onto the balcony ledge and had just leapt from it. She was soaring into the sky and leaving the humans and her sister behind.  
  
"Don't allow her to escape!" Mister Zeppeli grabbed at Speedwagon's cane and threw it like a lance. The Ripple-infused object flew across the sky straight for Jude.  
  
It was a fine throw. It even struck Jude's free arm. But whatever hope of the Ripple's power spreading ended when she tore her own arm off.  
  
"You'll never catch her." Martha said. It was not mockery or disrespect, but the simple truth they all knew. However, what came next would be harder to swallow. "And she won't infect the town of Windknight's Lot. We can head there now, but I assure you it will be fine."  
  
It was obvious that none of them would believe her words. Not even Jonathan himself was fully convinced. The only way they'd know for sure is if they rushed into the town and saw for themselves that it was safe and sound.  
  
Martha turned to face Jonathan, looking up to him with eyes he had never seen before. He tried to express the emotion of cautious gratitude as best he could with a soft smile. All it seemed to do, however, was make her blush.  
  
Maybe he had embarrassed her somehow?  
  
Regardless, he did his best to show his belief and thanks in her. It was not yet unconditional, but he knew that Martha was at the very least no longer a slave to Jude's will. She had broken free from her sister and helped them do their part to stop her.  
  
 _All for her mother's..._ No. This was not for her. Not anymore. This was for Martha's sake.  
  
And somehow, he knew that this was the first time since she'd been a child that Martha Cutler felt hope.  
  


\---

  
In the end, the Stone Mask that brought about so much suffering, pain, and power was shattered by a single sledgehammer.  
  
Four people stood just by the entrance into the castle. The door in front of them was shut to keep the sunlight out for the sake of the woman of the group. If even a single ray touched her skin it would fall apart in moments. That was the cost of the Stone Mask.  
  
Martha Cutler had shrouded herself in cloaks and bandages. She did not plan on staying here for long. However, she still needed to add more fabric and also did not wish to travel with the Ripple Masters.  
  
For now, she stood and watched the fragments separate and hit the floor. Some of the smaller pieces broke again from the impact. The legacy of the Stone Mask had finally come to an end.  
  
Speedwagon struck the mask a few more times. They couldn't take any chances with Jude still out there.  
  
If anyone could take the pieces and forge the mask anew again, it would be her.  
  
After much of the Stone Mask became nothing more than dust in the wind, however, Martha felt peace of mind again and looked to JoJo, Speedwagon, and Zeppeli. The latter especially seemed- eager would be a strong word- anticipatory in wanting to speak to her.  
  
"Tell me, Martha. How exactly do you plan to live your life from now on?" Zeppeli asked. He regarded her at best as an eccentricity and at worst a deceiver planning foul things for humanity. "A vampire feeds on the blood of men. It energises them and allows them to move. To resist the temptation will not be easy. Were it not for JoJo, I'd have destroyed you as a mercy."  
  
"Do you believe yourself capable of such?" Martha knew none of them were. JoJo possibly, but only with assistance, with her fighting level.  
  
Speedwagon, wisely, chose to avoid that question. "I believe that there was another way. A way for you to have overcome them without having to sacrifice your humanity."  
  
"What's done is done. All I can do now is complete my purpose." Said Martha.  
  
"And that is?" Zeppeli asked as he raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Judith only left because she had her fill of Despair. In time, however, she will grow bored and begin a new plot. Maybe it'll involve flooding the world with zombies, or perhaps something else entirely." Martha replied. "Finding her will be difficult, but I can do it."  
  
"So you did not wish to kill her, but still stop her plans?! Striking her down would have ended them all." Speedwagon suggested.  
  
"But it would have also meant Jude would be dead." JoJo sounded slightly downcast by that answer. Martha knew it wasn't for Jude's sake but her own.  
  
"Jude wishes to feel Despair. It is her only warmth in this world that she sees as so barren and cold. I used to believe that I simply had to do what she told me and that she would find it on her own. After all, it didn't matter if I didn't understand despair. So long as I understood her, that'd be enough."  
  
It was different now. Her understanding of Despair had showed her just how little she really knew about Judith.  
  
She was committed to her goal, but couldn't deny the fear in her stomach for the unknown. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to feel. Her life had always been decided by what Jude wanted and needed. It had always been that way. It was as if she was more half of the Despair Sisters than her own self.  
  
It was easier to live in her sister's shadow than to try and fail to assert herself.  
  
"I will still dedicate myself to her." Martha said. "Wherever she makes plans, I will be there to foil them. Whenever she tries to drown this world in despair, I will be the one to help those who bring hope to others. JoJo, I will make sure she no longer harms you or those close to you."  
  
"It's a shame you cast aside your humanity. Even if your motives are impure, you may have made a fine master of the Ripple." Zeppeli said. He looked at her as if she was doomed already.  
  
"The Ripple seems good for holding back ageing...but it is not what I want."  
  
Martha could not chase Judith for as long as she needed whilst a human. The life of a human, even one who mastered the Ripple, was finite.  
  
Zeppeli likely knew this and mourned what he must have seen as a youth's wishful thinking. Martha didn't care. He could think what he wished.  
  
"We should be making our way back home. I guess this is where we part?" Speedwagon asked. He kept an eye on Martha, who merely shrugged in response.  
  
"Possibly. She may have designs for JoJo still and Wang Chan still lives. But, if not, that may be true." Martha knew Jude better than anyone. She would try something with JoJo's life once more. "The Joestar family will always attract Jude. She sees your potential, JoJo. To break it and ruin them entirely is her dream. So I will always be with you and your family. I will be protecting you from the shadows as best as I can. I will endlessly check Jude with that and make her feel the Despair she yearns for."  
  
"Martha," JoJo said, taking a step towards her. "I know you do not think it so. I know that you somehow still question if you were wrong to leave Jude's side as a collaborator, but I believe in your heart. I believe that you can overcome the evil of the Stone Mask and stop Jude still. I only wish to meet you as you are again some day."  
  
"JoJo," Martha gently smiled. "You know we never would have won all those games if it wasn't for me."  
  
The two laughed. It was so much like how they'd laugh in the past and was yet so different. Perhaps it was the first true honest moment of joy between them.  
  
However, their paths were divergent. Jonathan Joestar, Robert E.O. Speedwagon, and William Zeppeli were bound together by a kinder fate. A fate that would let them walk in the light. For Martha, she had to remain in the darkness and only come to them at the right time.  
  
She had many urges. Some voices in her head told her to strike while their backs were turned and drink their blood. Others told her to grab JoJo's shoulder, spin him around, and kiss him on the lips. A darker version told her to take away his humanity and make him belong only to her.  
  
A weaker part of her wanted to rush back to Judith's side, beg forgiveness, and try to return to the past. The brutish side of her whispered the same in going back, but only to kill her. Kill her and become the strongest in the world.  
  
There was even a soft whisper telling her to go south-east, or simply just south, and to bring the blood of countless innocents with her.  
  
As the three grew distant, however, Martha put a hand over her face. She could feel tears. Were they grateful tears of hope or mournful tears of Despair? Martha would never truly know.  
  
She did know that she would come back to Judith again. She would truly return to her little sister, they would have their final battle, and she would be able to unleash all the despair she had built up over the years.  
  
Her final gift to Jude.  
  
 _Then our souls will be the same. Then we will have perfect understanding._ Martha looked up at the bright sky she would never be able to walk under again.  _I'll never leave my little sister alone._  
  
Time passed. Maybe a few minutes or maybe a handful of hours, but the key thing was that Martha went to add the last bits of her dressing and returned to the front door to begin moving. It was time to leave this castle behind and step out into the world of humans once more.  
  
She would take her first step into the world of infinite IFs.


	7. Bonus Features One

**Josuke Hair Insults**

Junko: "That hair...just looking at it is making me despair!"

 

Mukuro: "*Growls*"

 

Sakura: "A delinquent?! I shall test my skills against you."

 

Fujisaki: "I want to be strong and manly...but not that much."

 

Ishimaru: "Halt! Delinquent, you will make that hair into something more appropriate in a school environment!"

 

Sayaka: "...*Giggles*"

 

Celestia: "Oh my. Your face is certainly attractive, but that hair...IT'S DISGUSTING ENOUGH TO MAKE ME WANNA FUCKIN' PUKE!"

 

Yamada: "Wah! That hair is so out of date it's not even a classic! Not even the worst doujin would feature a punk with that hair."

 

Kuwata: "You pick up chicks with that piece of crap?! I'm calling bullshit!"

 

'Ishida': "Halt! Delinquent, no matter how hard you try, your pompadour will never match that of my Big Bro's!"

 

* * *

 

**Joseph Disguise Reaction**

 

Naegi: "J-Joseph?! What are you doing?"

 

Kirigiri: "...this infiltration has already failed."

 

Togami: "Idiot. Just being around you is making my brain-cells drop."

 

Fukawa: "Wh-What is that? Some kind of mocking cosplay of me?!"

 

Syo: "Gyahahaha! If you were trying to escape my sights, pretty boy...you succeeded."

 

Komaru: "AAAHH! If I cover my eyes, I can pretend I'm reading shoujo manga!"

 

Asahina: "I-If this is some prank on Sakura, I won't forgive you! If not...I still won't forgive you!"

 

Yuta: "Hey, Mister Joestar, I- What the heck?!"

 

Hagakure: "My eyes! I will never be clean again!"

 

Hiroko: "I'm sure your mother has a very strong heart."

 

Celestia: "...There's not a grade in the world to describe how low you rank."

 

Ishimaru: "T-This is against school regulations! Change back! Change back!"

 

Sakura: "If this is how you wish to dress, then I would be a hypocrite to mock you...unless you think you're actually wearing a disguise."

 

Yamada: "What kind of thing is this?! You're supposed to actually look like a girl!"

 

Sayaka: "You really thought that'd work, didn't you? How did I know? I'm an esper."

 

Fujisaki: "I-Is that how a man's supposed to look in women's clothing? And I look a perfect fit."

 

Mondo: "Gah! You tryin' to make fun of Fujisaki or somethin'? I'll beat the shit outta you right here!"

 

Kuwata: "What the hell? Are you serious?"

 

Mukuro: "Junko made me wear that much make-up once. We were five. What's your excuse?"

 

Junko: "...Did you really think it'd work? I don't know if you're actually that retarded! This is amazing! A new despair is all mine!"

 

* * *

**EoH Team-Ups**

 

Jonathan/Jude: "Upupu, JoJo, you think you can fight beside a woman? Shouldn't a gentleman be more protective than that?", "Jude, I know better than to underestimate you."

Victory: "We won. Just as planned. JoJo, you better not take advantage of me showing my back to you.", "This isn't over, Judith. But I won't fall for your trap just yet."

 

Jonathan/Martha: "Martha! What are you-", "Don't question it, JoJo. I will not betray you in this fight."

Victory: "W-Wait! What is Jude-" "JoJo, keep your guard up. So long as you threaten Judith, I will be ready to kill you."

 

Jude/Martha: "Ho? They think they can take on the Despair Sisters? Martha, your fat ass better not slow me down.", "Don't worry, Jude. They'll be dead soon."

Victory: "And so the great and powerful vampire Jude vanquished her enemies while her stinky slut of a sister was too busy drooling.", "B-But that's not what happened!"

 

Jude/Junko: "My counterpart from another world! Is that contraption from your world too? Maybe you'll be useful in a fight now!", "Big talk coming from someone who can't even get the job done."

Victory: "Seeing myself like this...unable to touch...", "I know....it's just so despairing!"

 

Jude/Mukuro: "Huh, bigger and better guns in everywhere but where it counts.", "She...She even speaks like Junko."

Victory: "How does my counterpart even handle you? You're so dumb, fat, and ugly.", "Dumb, fat, and ugly...all three!"

 

Martha/Mukuro: "Your guns and skills may surpass mine, but my will to protect my sister is the same as yours!", "That's why we're here, isn't it?"

Victory: "Impressive, Ms Cutler. I underestimated you; especially as you can use  _it_.", "I should say the same to you. The modern world has surpassed my own."

 

Martha/Junko: "Huh? So she dumped me with an old-timey version of Big Sis? Urgh.", "Even if you're not exactly like her, I'll protect you all the same!"

Victory: "I finally found it...something even more disappointing than Mukuro! How is she better than you?!", "I can understand you just like I understand her...you do like her more then."

 

Jude/Dio: "Eh? I have to be partnered up with this loser?", "Tsk, don't think I like this any more than you, woman. Just don't get in my way."

Victory: "I, Dio, have claimed victory! Next is JoJo. Stay out of my way.", "Hey! JoJo's my enemy! Go drown in a lake for a century!"

 

Martha/Dio: "So she sent her dog in her stead?", "If you're going to complain, simply sit on the sidelines while I handle this."

Victory: "That skill...to think it's wasted on that idiot rather than I, Dio.", "Say that again. You won't be the first undead thing I've killed."

 

Valentine/Toujou: "For the sake of our nations, we must be triumphant in this fight. Are you prepared to cast aside all morality in the name of your country and people?", "My heart has been clear from the start. For our people, our hearts shall remain clear no matter the task. That is what it means to be a servant of the nations we love and hold dear!"

Victory: "Our hearts and actions are utterly unclouded.", "For they act in the name and service of our peoples."

 

Shinguji/Toujou: "Shinguji, it is a disgrace for a maid to require assistance from those she is meant to serve, but the situation is dire.", "Kukuku...your determination and pride...it's wonderful to witness. Let's punish these misguided souls."

Victory: "Thank you, Shinguji. You are truly reliable. Allow me to clean up this mess. Our opponents deserve that much.", "Ah, Toujou, you truly are an admirable woman!"

 

PR!IF

 

Jonathan/Martha: "Martha, I'll take it head on and you flank them. Just like that last match.", "Sorry, JoJo, but things have changed. I'll be taking the lead now!"

Victory: "JoJo, do you hate that I am a vampire?", "I dislike your reasons...but I will always be grateful for your help, my sister."

 

Zeppeli/Martha: "Forgive me if I remain distrustful. Not least because you are a vampire.", "Just stay out of my way then. I'll handle the threat in front of us."

Victory: "I would not be the man I am now if I left the burden on my partner. Just know I have an eye on you.", "That's fine. My eyes will be focused on Jude."

 

Martha/Dire: "Zeppeli's friend, right? I presume you too distrust me?", "Observant. But right now we have a more important matter on our hands!"

Victory: "You're skilled. If only you had chosen the Ripple over the Mask.", "Immortality is what I needed. If I am to be there to show Jude my despair."

 

Martha/Lisa Lisa: "A creature of the night fighting by my side?", "No matter how many years go by, I'll always be close to my sister."

Victory: "Did you expect Straits betrayal?", "Straits was weak from the start. All Jude needed were a few words. All I need is a moment to strike."

 

Martha/Joseph: "Oi, don't think we're going to be buddies? I heard of how you kissed Granny Erina! Try that again and I'll kick you in the fine ass!", "...Joseph Joestar?"

Victory: "Ha! The next thing you're going to say is 'Those predictions. JoJo, your grandson reminds me of someone.'" "Those predictions. JoJo, your grandson reminds me of someone. What?!"

 

Martha/Caesar: "You're the agent Speedwagon sent?! A vampire!", "I see some things don't change. Just remember to control yourself."

Victory: "I have complete control of my Ripple-infused bubbles!", "...That's not even what I meant."

 

Martha/Stroheim: "Martha! Here I thought you'd betrayed the Reich!", "The Reich was a means to an end. Right now, I need those means again."

Victory: "German science triumphs again!", "Cybernetics...it's a good thing Jude is still entranced with vampirism. Although...I'd certainly be interested in some of those firearms."

 

* * *

 

**VS Dialogue**

   


Jonathan VS Jude: "Jude! Your reign of villainy ends here!", "JoJo, JoJo. What am I going to do with you? Make you a zombie? A vampire? I'll make my mind up when you're dead!"

Jonathan Victory: "The tenacity and determination of man will never be destroyed! Jude, it's time to face justice!"

Jude Victory: "Upupu, no one's going to save you now, Big Brother."

 

Jonathan VS Martha: "Martha! I'll give you this one chance to stand down. You have to realise that Jude is mad!", "It doesn't matter what she wants, it's my duty to provide it and protect her. No matter what."

Jonathan Victory: "Your heart may have been corrupted, but it was still honest. Now onto Jude!"

Martha Victory: "Jude...I did it...he's gone now...Ufufufu..."

 

Martha VS Speedwagon: "Speedwagon! Your life ends here!", "Curses! Even if it's just me in your way, REO Speedwagon ain't the kind of man who backs down from a fight!"

Martha Victory: "Pathetic."

Speedwagon Victory: "Even if you're a woman, a scoundrel who sacrifices their morality to the desires of someone like Jude has a weak heart. That heart will never win a true fight!"

 

Martha VS Zeppeli: "Miss Cutler, is it? Tonight is the night that Jude and the Stone Mask are destroyed! Stand aside or you'll join them!", "I won't let any of you Ripple masters near Jude!"

Martha Victory: "One down. JoJo, if I kill the master, then the student is surely doomed."

Zeppeli Victory: "Such skill. It could have been a great use to the world. A shame it belonged to such darkness."

 

Jude VS Zeppeli: "Experience the power of the Ripple!", "Ha! You really think that'll work?! I've already figured out the most despairing way to kill you!"

Jude Victory: "It's just a matter of taking away your blood-circulation. Zeppeli, get ready for the most terrifying and cruel tortures imaginable! Ah, JoJo, I can't wait for you to see this."

Zeppeli Victory: "A difficult battle. I almost died one too many times. But now it is over."

 

Jude VS Martha: "Martha, fight me! I wanna see how badly I can beat you up. No holding back either!", "J-Jude?! I could never hurt you...even if you're a vampire now."

Jude Victory: "The strongest human might as well be the strongest worm compared to me! Head up to my room. Seeing you all battered and bruised is making me horny."

Martha Victory: "Jude! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-kyaa! D-Don't bite so hard! I thought I was being helpful!"

 

Jude VS Junko: "Where's your big sister? Or do all little girls in your world rely on such stupid-looking armour.", "Eh? I didn't know you could hear shit. Who needs Big Sis when I have the Monokuma Battle Armour?! Taste the 21st Century, bitch!"

Jude Victory: "They say imitation's the highest form of flattery. For giving me the despair of killing myself, I'll give you the despair of being a zombie!"

Junko Victory: "I did it...I actually murdered myself...kyaa! This despair...I've never felt anything like it!"

 

Jude VS Mukuro: "Junko says you're somehow even crappier a sister than Martha. This I gotta see.", "Even if she's from another world...can I really fight Junko?"

Jude Victory: "Bitch doesn't know what she's talking about. That technology! Those skills honed by training! No doubt about it, my big sister is the most useless of all!"

Mukuro Victory: "I won...but it feels so wrong to fight Junko!"

 

Jude VS Dio: "You think you can match up against I, Dio?! Ha! A stupid woman like you doesn't deserve to be a vampire, let alone have your talents!", "What is it about boys and jealousy. Not like it matters. I can't wait to see your face when I crush you!"

Jude Victory: "Upupu. Give me more of it. Give me more of your Despair!"

Dio Victory: "You thought you could defeat me? Useless! Useless! Useless!"

 

Jude VS Lisa Lisa: "Who's this hottie? Should I know you?", "Jonathan Joestar's murderer. Your death comes quickly!"

Jude Victory: "This bitch is good with the Ripple, but even better with those legs. Afternoon snack? Don't mind if I do."

Lisa Lisa Victory: "Straits was right. She's dangerous...unimaginably so. But she can be killed."

 

Jude VS Y!Joseph: "Jude! I'm gonna make you pay for making Granny Erina cry!", "JoJo's grandson?! So different, but that fire remains! This is going to be fun!"

Jude Victory: "Your predictive-abilities are pretty cool, I'll give you that. But it's a mere cod compared to the whale that is my mind. Die in despair!"

Y!Joseph Victory: "I thought you were able to analyse everything you see. Only you ended up getting your ass kicked by yours truly! Now that you're down...maybe a peek wouldn't hurt."

 

Jude VS Kars: "Kneel, vampire. You now face your creator; the one who will achieve perfection!", "Creator? Does that make you my father? I can't wait to kill him again!"

Jude Victory: "Pillar Men? You made me use my analysis, so I'll give you that. But once you showed your powers, I knew exactly how to beat you. Upupu, is the despair of losing to an inferior creature that painful?"

Kars Victory: "Intelligent, strong, but ultimately still a mere vampire. Now for the Ripple users."

 

Jude VS Esidisi: "Back off! JoJo's grandson is my prey! No one makes him despair but me.", "I'll accept that challenge. Don't think I'm a simple vampire like you, however."

Jude Victory: "Die in despair, knowing that I'm coming for your comrades next!"

Esidisi Victory: "An intelligence to match my own. What a shame it had to be snuffed out instead of being made use of."

 

Jude VS Wammu: "Challenge me! Let us see who is the strongest!", "That hope you have of finding a worthy foe? Of serving your masters? I'm going to turn it all to despair!"

Jude Victory: "Is that it? Humans really are pathetic; it's just a bit of wind. Gonna need some blood to patch this up though."

Wammu Victory: "She almost had me there. What kind of vampire was she?"

 

Dio VS Martha: "She sent her dog to fight me? Pathetic! I, Dio, will finish you off easily, human!", "That arrogance. I've killed the undead before. Now I simply need to level up."

Dio Victory: "No human can ever match me! Not JoJo and certainly not a simpering mutt like you!"

Martha Victory: "When I use everything in my arsenal, and when I fight for Judith, nothing can stop me."

 

Martha VS Mukuro: "Did your little sister tell you to fight too.", "We have to decide which of us is the strongest."

Martha Victory: "Your advanced weaponry and training were good, but you've never had to handle a vampire before. Sorry for what Junko is going to do to you."

Mukuro Victory: "You've spent too long enjoying the high life. Fenrir is when I became the Ultimate Soldier. If Jude is like Junko, I'll send you cream for your butt tomorrow."

 

Martha VS Caesar: "You killed my grandfather! I will avenge him now, and then I will destroy Jude once and for all!", "You won't even see Jude before I kill you!"

Martha Victory: "Emotion gives you power, but it was nothing compared to my will."

Caesar Victory: "One down, one to go. I will be the one to end this!"

 

Martha VS Esidisi: "A human fighting for a vampire? What did she offer you? Immortality? Her body?", "Someone like you would never understand."

Martha Victory: "He was so powerful...these Pillar Men...I have to warn Jude at once!"

Esidisi Victory: "But I do understand, now that I see your reasons. That desire to risk it all for your family, I dare say I would do the same."

 

Martha VS Wammu: "You seem to have basic Ripple at best...but your own fighting power. This will be a good fight.", "Enjoy it. Because it'll be the last one you fight."

Martha Victory: "I've never had to fight this hard before. I have to tell Jude...we need to re-group. Maybe even speak with the Ripple Masters."

Wammu Victory: "If you had trained further in the Ripple, and entered that state of mind sooner, you may have defeated me. Nevertheless, a worthy opponent."

 

Valentine VS Toujou: "Your patriotism is admirable. However, I cannot allow you to live, if I am to accomplish my aims.", "If I die, the nation of Japan will fall into chaos. I will not allow that to happen under any circumstances. You will die now!"

Valentine Win: "My quest for the Holy Corpse cannot be stopped under any circumstances. I cannot fail America."

Toujou Win: "A Stand like D4C, I must confess that such a Stand makes me envious. However, it was not enough to overcome my will to survive!"

 

PR!IF

 

Jude VS Martha: "Jude, it's time for us to battle.", "...You mean it's time to disappoint me again."

Jude Victory: "Martha...you did your best...I love you...goodbye."

Martha Victory: "Jude, I can finally show you it. The despair I've been building up all these years has all been for you. Now, accept it, and know my despair."

 

Martha VS Straits: "Behold! Now I stand on the same level as you and Jude! And I won't make your mistakes either.", "I guess Jude finally got to you."

Martha Victory: "She must be getting bored, if she went for such an easy target."

Straits Victory: "You and Jude are the same; too busy exploring yourselves instead of winning the fight in front of you!"

 

Martha VS Mukuro: "You want to do right by your sister and yet you don't even know her.", "Shut up! I won't hear this from someone who stabbed her in the back in another world!"

Martha Victory: "You are not Junko and Junko is not you. If you don't realise this soon, it'll be both your deaths."

Mukuro Victory: "You may have been a vampire, but I had the stronger will. But...were you wrong?"

 

Martha VS Kars: "A vampire dares to challenge me? Do you not know who I am?", "Yes, I do. That's why you die tonight."

Martha Victory: "His power, his intelligence...if he had gotten the Red Stone, he'd be unstoppable."

Kars Victory: "The height of humanity, combined with vampirism, and yet it wasn't enough! Perfection lies just ahead of me!"

 

Martha VS Wammu: "You're not getting anywhere near the Ripple-users.", "A vampire wishes to challenge me? For the sake of humanity? Very well, I will test this resolve."

Martha Victory: "That horn...the Divine Sandstorm...I was lucky to survive, let alone win."

Wammu Victory: "Impressive. It seems that it is not just humanity which has evolved since I slept."

 

Martha VS Y!Joseph: "Joseph Joestar...I want to test your skills.", "A-A vampire?! My clackers will take you out in no time."

Martha Victory: "Impressive, but weak. You'll need to train a lot harder if you ever want to survive an encounter with Jude."

Y!Joseph Victory: "So you're the friend Granny Erina told me about. Give a man some warning why don't ya?"

 

* * *

 

**Dual Heart Attacks**

 

Jonathan/Martha: Martha fires at the opponent with her machine-gun, hitting them in the side but attracting attention. The opponent is hit with bullets but gets close, but before Martha can draw her knife, Jonathan strikes at them with a Sunlight Yellow Overdrive. Thinking the opponent is down, Jonathan checks on Martha, not noticing the opponent about to launch a desperate final attack. Martha throws a knife and strikes them in the sternum.

 

Jonathan/IF!Martha: The same, except instead of a knife, it's Space Ripper Stingy Eyes.

 

Jude/Martha: Jude dodges the opponent's attacks and with each tap of her finger, she freezes a part of their body to slow them down, but keep blood circulating. The opponent is too focused on Jude to notice Martha appear behind them and slam the bottom of her foot against the back of their knee. Sent to their knees and unable to move, Martha slices their throat open and Jude drinks as if it's a water fountain, always keeping eye-contact. She then pinches Martha's cheeks (face and butt) over being too slow.

 

Jude/Junko: Jude grabs the opponents legs and freezes them to the floor and then freezes their arms together. Junko in her Monokuma Battle Armour uses the saw feature and begins carving up the opponent as they scream in pain. As the opponent is dying of blood-loss, Jude and Junko stand side by side as the former begins sucking out what little blood remains and they see the opponent in despair.

 

Martha/Mukuro: Martha pins down the opponent with suppressing fire. Mukuro slowly makes her way to their position with knife in hand. The opponent leaps out and makes their way towards Martha, taking bullets but getting closer. They're almost there when they spot a landmine planted just ahead and dodge it. Only for Mukuro to throw her knife and trigger it anyway. The opponent is sent back with horrific burns and missing legs. Mukuro and Martha both slit their throat.


	8. Yellow Submarine

 

**Arc Two: The World Under Hell**

 

******Chapter Six: Yellow Submarine** ** **

 

 

\---

 

Jude waited until she felt the coffin sink below the surface.

 

Only then did she truly laugh and let joy and despair take her. Erina had never even suspected it! She waited on this very coffin for her salvation, never truly knowing that the one who killed her love was just beneath her! Her very life was dependent on Jude's mercy and she never knew it!

 

"I did it! I did it!" Jude shouted. She made a brief note about the echo, but also didn't give a damn. "I'm still alive and you're dead! She'll never know! Or maybe she'll find out when she's older and just recovering from your loss. Oh, or maybe she'll never recover and become some tired old hag!"

 

The image of Erina trying to stay strong only to then fall into despair warmed her heart. A thousand other cruel fates and horrible futures filled Jude's mind and made her scream out in delight. She was have been sinking into the depths of the sea, but she was flying sky-high right now!

 

All from the suffering she brought to a single woman.

 

"Not that I can talk. Thanks to you, I lost my beautiful femininity and have to make do with your ripped figure. Not that it'll mean much after a year." Jude pouted at the thought of her new body turning to a skeleton so quickly.

 

What had she abandoned her fabulous breasts for?!

 

_No. The vampirism will sustain the body's physical condition even without food or water._ Jude groaned at herself. Was her brain going to be the new Martha in pointing out the obvious and thus ruining her despair?  _Shut up! I'm having a moment!_

 

Jude had been busy these past few hours. Getting herself properly fitted onto JoJo's body was a lot of work but it was worth it. JoJo's friends and family would never be able to give him a true burial now, whilst Jude had him all to herself.

 

She had heard them cheering for him and Erina when they got on the boat. All of them must have been awaiting the day they could hear about the honeymoon. All of their sacrifices, and those from their loved ones, had been for this happy ending.

 

Now the likes of Speedwagon would get that letter, or even a phone call! Erina would be speaking through her tears all about how Jude had survived and took away her husband and Speedwagon's best friend. Poco and his sister would know that their saviour was gone forever.

 

The Ripple-users would have lost their best fighter. JoJo's son would never know his father.

 

"If only I could be there to taste their despair. Guess I'll just have to settle for my imagination! What do you think, JoJo?" She asked.

 

She wouldn't see his response. The inside of the coffin was pitch darkness. It had to be in order to be as protective as it was. So Jude could see nothing.

 

What she could do was feel the skin on her hands. She ran her fingers through his hair and noted the slight scent of rotting flesh. It'd take longer than usual, but his face would eventually rot off and leave only bone.

 

Until then, however, she still had enough to have JoJo's face with her.

 

"You'd probably say something like 'The Joestar spirit will never diminish, so long as my friends and family have each other. Our hope will survive your despair!' And I'd fight you all over again." Jude said. Just the thought of it brought a nostalgic smile to her face. "I'm going to miss this when I get out."

 

Her escape was inevitable. The point of the sinking was close enough to fishing waters that many boats would come by and test their luck. Going by the direction of the drift, it'd be a bit further than if they went straight down, but close enough for a few. Not to mention that war was unlikely for these parts.

 

It was just a matter of time for one of them to find her. Hell, maybe her last zombie would somehow be involved.

 

She did her best to look down at the bloodied head on her lap. "Maybe he'll kill one of your friends. Your beloved Erina, your friend Speedwagon, or maybe he'll go for Windknight's Lot and complete the plan."

 

_Or he'll take away your child._ Jude couldn't help but squeal at the thought. JoJo's legacy would turn to nothing! All her zombie would need to do was avoid the sun.

 

How long could a zombie last out there? Weeks? Months? Years?

 

Maybe he'd be just like Jude. Slowly biding his time away from the light for the right moment where he'd come in and seize it all.

 

But that was a problem for those on the surface. Judith meanwhile could simply lay back and embrace the realities of being buried alive.

 

"I always loved the sea." Jude said wistfully. "Not because it was pretty or shit like that. No...I loved it because of what people liked to think it wasn't."

 

It was deep. Light only travelled so far and then there was nothing but the darkness. The waves of the surface could tear down even the strongest foundations given time and when you went below you could be crushed by the very pressures themselves. Nothing could stop it forever.

 

It was unknown and dangerous. Jude had remembered vividly reading of the misshapen and terrifying creatures that could have resided below. When old Lord George Joestar wasn't looking, of course. For all she had to pretend to care for flowers and music, it was the monsters and the hideous she held true passion for.

 

Lastly, it spoke to her. How it was better to swim with the tide than to constantly fight against it in a losing battle.

 

"Just like Despair," She breathed out and did her best to hold his head in her new arms. The same way he had done hers. "Can you believe it, JoJo? You finally get to understand it."

 

Minutes passed until Judith felt the coffin hit the floor of the seabed. She and JoJo were no longer falling down to the pits of entropy and darkness. They had arrived to that very pit of hell.

 

And it was in that very pit that she and him would wait. Years would pass before they'd be found. All that time alone and forced to only speak with the head of her brother? She was already getting giddy from the despair!

 

And in just a matter of time, she would be showing the whole world what despair would be like.

 

\---

 

Thousands of ships passed along the surface over the years.

 

No one else could feel the slight ripple (Jude laughed to herself) against the confines of the coffin but her. Her vampirism heightened her senses to a point that no human could ever match her in whilst her predictions were never wrong. Those were ships on the surface.

 

Some were fishing boats, others were yachts, cruise-ships, and even war-ships. That last one was only a handful of times but those periods would be so high in number that it made her spine tingle. That wasn't the only thing, however.

 

Submarines. She remembered reading about them in the American Civil War back in those static days of her youth. They would wait under the water before firing on an unsuspecting ship and sending it into the depths. It was something that Judith had dreamed of; hundreds of lives being snuffed out by a threat they couldn't even see.

 

She loved them more when she read of how the first submarine that sank a ship ended up being destroyed for being too close to its own attack.

 

When she dreamed, it was sometimes all about how one of those submarines would go too deep and crash into her coffin. The water would fill her prison whole and she would be forced to break free, only for the pressures of the sea to crush both her and JoJo.

 

Other times, she dreamt of a boat that was searching for something (fish? treasure?) and would find instead a mysterious coffin when bringing it up to the surface.

 

She would break free then and unleash a Despair the likes of which the world would never know.

 

The ocean and rivers and lakes would run red with blood. The air itself would be nothing but the wailing of the tortured and the damned and black smoke from their burning bodies. Family, friends, nation, and hope would mean nothing as all humanity would be reduced to slavering hounds and scurrying rodents.

 

Jude would look upon such a world and know that she had forever ruined it.

 

But that was a dream. A dream that had yet to come true.

 

In a way, was that not Despair?

 

(For all she told herself that, it grew harder to believe.)

 

(Despair wouldn't be so mind-numbing)

 

\---

 

Decades have passed since Jude last felt the wind against her face.

 

She knew that humans were social animals. Even a day without a single soul to interact with could drive a man mad. They gained hope by binding themselves to others and despair through those ties being corrupted or broken.

 

Yet she had always felt herself to have been different from humans, even before the Stone Mask. She had always wondered if she'd embrace the idea of having no one else on her level. After all, she had been alone for long enough as a human.

 

That isolation was never physical nor to this length.

 

Jude needed someone to speak to. Someone who she could at least make experience despair or use to bring despair to herself. She needed contact. A person with whom she could go back and forth with. They could be the most predictable person on the planet for her and she'd still crave the connection.

 

As the only person she could speak to was herself, why not create more hers with whom to speak with?

 

The first personality she created was vengeful and violent. She liked sticking out her tongue and swearing and all the things a lady would never do. She would rage of how the Joestars and all those victims had it coming. She celebrated JoJo's death and wished she took out Erina too.

 

The next was something more regal; much better-suiting the one who'd rule the world when she escaped. She spoke pompously like the girls at all those tea-parties and demanded nothing more than total submission. Those who served her were to take pride in it and those who didn't only delayed the inevitable, such as JoJo.

 

After that was something cuter. Her eyes would widen as would her pupils and her voice turned gooey. The false weakness she'd show the kind of men who slobbered over her and George Joestar himself. Most of her lines were about how cool JoJo looked and how he should have chosen her over smelly Martha as the favourite sister.

 

Her wackier side needed work. It was definitely a welcome change of pace from lying in wait to get the buck-teeth right. Her words were slurred and Jude actually welcomed the side she had to hide. There was no need to be refined as a Joestar or focus on the plan when being a vampire.

 

Yet she kept her serious side. If she had them, she'd wear a pair of spectacles to go with her clipped formal tone. All she did was talk about the many flaws of her plans and how she should have expected what JoJo did. It was good enough to get the despair going.

 

And finally the depression. Mushrooms would grow from her head and she moan her current situation and past. Martha having never understood her, JoJo having beaten her over and over, and the fact that twice now she had been denied what she wanted.

 

Those six were more than enough to keep her interest for now. JoJo's skull also helped break the ice. There was no need for her to start wondering if she'd need JoJo just yet. Not when she had the best company of all.

 

Besides, her own personality was getting boring. Variety was the spice of life, after all. They would gossip about her failings and plans and the dreams she had of sinners and heaven. All that talk of the latter made it feel like Mother had never died.

 

Maybe this was death and Jude was actually in some kind of hell?

 

That got them to arguing and Jude would never forget what that kind of despair felt like.

 

Madness was a great form of it. It both required and gave despair for Judith. Years of darkness and the never-ending sounds of the oceans had messed with her mind more than she had thought.

 

But she still wondered when the boat that'd save her would come along.

 

\---

 

It was impossible for her not to keep track of time.

 

The complete isolation and darkness should have warped her sense of time. Wasn't it just a human construct?! For someone who had rejected her humanity, and had been alone for longer than she'd been on the surface, she should have abandoned it by now!

 

And still her mind counted the seconds, minutes, and hours. They added up to days and weeks, which then added up to months and years. All before turning to decades spent under the sea.

 

_Decades I've spent stuck in this fucking box! Decades I could have spent spreading despair!_ Jude would have welcomed death. To have faced the great and infinite void, or even the fires of hell itself. It'd the end of her life on earth! A despair like none other!  _But no...I couldn't let that happen._

 

She had to fight JoJo that one last time. She had to make that one final attempt to bring him into despair.

 

Now she and he were tied together forever.

 

At times, Jude wondered if it'd have been best for her to have died at the Joestar mansion. Sure, she never would have been able to go fully wild on the world, but she had done a good enough job on the garden and home. She had even died with the home thanks to that statue.

 

The ultimate rejection by the Joestar family. Its guardian spirit would have cut her down before she began her new life. What better way to have fully broken from her past after cutting all her ties to it?

 

_Martha..._ No. She hadn't severed all of her ties back then. Jude had wanted to survive so that she could end that final one. Those closest to her heart had to die!

 

Martha and JoJo were gone now. All Judith Eydris had left now was herself.

 

So why not end it?

 

The pressures of the ocean floor could be too much for even her vampiric body. All she'd need was two tiny holes through the coffin and then the water would destroy it in moments. That kind of pressure only needed an entrance. If she didn't die, she could make her way upwards with JoJo.

 

On the other hand, she could simply use the Body Freezing Technique on the coffin itself. Let her body be shrouded in ice and wait out the potential decades ahead. At worst, it'd destroy the coffin and she'd die. And what was so wrong with that?!

 

No. No, she would not just quit now. She'd gone too far to simply let herself go out with a whimper. If Jude was going to die, she would die in a glorious fit of Despair!

 

Which meant waiting for rescue to come. It meant choosing not to kill herself.

 

_Martha would do it. She'd have killed herself the moment she realised I was gone._ Jude had always known that deep down. It was why she knew her elder sister couldn't do what she had done for her. She would have never hurt a hair on her head, let alone take her life.

 

Jude gave her older sister the greatest gift that one in despair could give to another. She wondered if Martha had ever really comprehended what Despair truly meant for her.

 

She wondered if Martha even recognised who she truly was.

 

_Do I even know what I look like?_ All these years in darkness and cold. It should have changed at least something about her! Maybe she'd escape this place and look nothing like herself. Her past look would be nothing more than an illusion for all they were worth!

 

Even if it'd give her despair, she didn't know how to feel about that.

 

\---

 

"Jude, this is the end for you and your Despair!" Jojo's words only made Jude grow more excited. "The hope entrusted in me by everyone...it will never break to your despair!"

 

"That's so adorable I could just throw up! You think nine decades under the sea is enough to stop this despair?!" She asked. It had been a while since she remembered that the echo wasn't meant to be normal.

 

"That's right." JoJo replied. Leave it to him to speak whilst only being a skull. "Though I may be imprisoned here with you, my spirit does not break. The Joestar legacy goes on!"

 

Jude only laughed harder at such idealism. "Your grandchildren would be withered and old by now. Peace would have made them weak. I doubt they even hold onto your title."

 

"Titles mean nothing without honour! I can feel it now! The world is safe and secure. It has moved on without-"

 

The conversation stopped. That was not going in the script.

 

"The legacy of the Joestar name does not need a title. All it needs are people who believe in one another! That hope is what brings tomorrow." JoJo replied.

 

"Upupupupu...We'll see if that stays true when I escape. Will your descendants even remember the Ripple?!"

 

Judith Eydris had finally found a way to speak with Jonathan Joestar from beyond the grave.

 

She could never predict what he would do in the heat of the moment. That had been why she lost to him three times.

 

What she could do, however, was predict his speech patterns, beliefs, and possible replies to her words and then create a conversation based on that. For Jude, it was finally a helpful use for her analytical abilities.

 

Jude could speak with her old foe again and he in turn could talk again. The lack of a tongue or vocal cords meant nothing when faced with such talent.

 

Of course, her talent also needed his strong spirit to assist as well.

 

She felt alive again! The lethargy of the past two decades had been maddening! So many damn ships that were so close to her and somehow never noticed the coffin below. Their hooks never came close enough.

 

Jude's mind didn't even let her sleep it off! At most, she would get a few days in a row and that itself needed her to stay awake for that long.

 

Now? Now she didn't want to. Not when she had JoJo to torment and play with again!

 

"Maybe you won't ever escape this place," Jude smiled and pressed her against against the floor. Her eyes widened and her body quivered. "Maybe you'll spend all eternity down here with me and never reunite with your Erina or son. All of time will simply be you and me, until the very oceans boil and crumble."

 

"Jude, rescue will come for us. Yes, that will mean that you will be able to do harm once more." JoJo spoke to her softly, as if they were siblings again. Only for his voice to regain its strength and power. "But that doesn't matter! For there will always be a champion of Hope for you to fight against with all their might. You will eventually escape this place, but you will never stop Hope!"

 

Jude smirked and held the skull closer to her body. "Oh, JoJo, you always know just what to say."

 

This wouldn't last forever. Not even a few years would pass before this too would become boring and routine. Just as speaking to herself had been.

 

But this was enough for now.

 

\---

 

There was a chance that she would never escape.

 

Judith was bored. She'd never been more bored in her life. Pretending to be a lady of the Joestar family was fucking entertaining compared to this! Acting as if she gave a shit about a bunch of flowers and music and that piece of crap game croquet that made her want to slit her wrists were all better than this!

 

It was like being a child again. She understood and could master everything. Nothing mattered and everything was empty. Her only release-valve was Martha and the joy she'd feel at her own unpredictable suffering when hurting her sister.

 

The Stone Mask was meant to liberate her of her humanity. To cut out all of her weakness and leave only Despair.

 

JoJo was one of the few genuine souls who didn't seem bound by fate. He was a man who decided it with his own determination. A Hope like that was just begging to be crushed under her heel and thus gave her life.

 

Now? Now she was stagnant. She could never do what she had done in a handful of weeks in the beginning. If she knew this was her fate, she had embraced every second of her rampage!

 

All Judith had left were her memories, her personalities, and JoJo's skull to keep herself company. There was nothing left for her to do to make herself feel that sweet despair. Even the madness of isolation was fleeting. Her analytical mind would not allow for her to just scream into the uncaring blackened void for too long. All she could do was lay there and think.

 

Her dreams had turned against her. Somehow, they were too abstract for even her analysis. New moons, rhinoceros beetles, emperors, and coordinates to a place on the map all meant nothing to her. Why was she remembering the words of a song her mother would sing to her?

 

Why was she dreaming of her mother blathering on about heaven?!

 

She knew why.

 

The boredom of nothingness was finally starting to break her. The empty void of her existence for the past ninety-five years had gone on for too long. She was trapped in an empty void and the torment of the ocean's current had lost its despair and merely become white noise. It meant nothing and thus was boring.

 

Jude was trapped in limbo. There was neither Hope nor Despair this deep down in the sea and that was what made it impossible to bare. She had never been this bored in her life.

 

_Wang Chan you fucking dumb piece of shit._ Jude wished there was still a body left just so she could eat it and shit it all out. If it weren't for that idiot, she could have devastated the world decades ago. At the very least, she wouldn't be stuck here.

 

Jude looked up at the dark void that nevertheless was the ceiling to her life for the past ninety-five years. Strong enough to withstand the bottom of the ocean and small enough for Jude to be choking to death inside it. The life from her body was slowly being sucked out from her.

 

If she didn't do this, her world would be nothing more than the confines of this coffin.

 

She'd eventually just stop thinking.

 

_So let's end this stupid stagnation and embrace the despair that comes next._ Jude felt a surge of energy and joy within her that she had almost forgotten. All of this had come from the gamble that she was about to pursue. The bet that could end her very life.

 

Space Ripper Stingy Eyes could break through the metal easily. If Jude's calculations were right, with enough focus and fluid, she could even break through the surface and pray that someone noticed the light.

 

There was a risk. It wasn't just how long it'd been since she used those powers. It was also about what had changed since the last time she used those powers.

 

Her power over JoJo's body was strong enough to control it entirely. But would it be strong enough to withstand her using vampiric techniques without rejecting her?

 

But you know what? Judith no longer cared if her body would revolt at the use of her vampire powers. She didn't even care if the gap she'd leave would destroy the coffin.

 

The only plan she had was to use the Body Freezing Technique to cover herself in ice and wait until rescue. Whether it'd be today or next century no longer mattered.

 

Either the coffin would shatter and she'd live or die, or she would be found eventually or never. Regardless of what happened, each path was a way for Jude to escape the boring reality she was trapped in and find herself new Despair.

 

The despair of swimming up an entire ocean? The despair of death? The despair she would bring to the world when freed? Or the despair of never being found and forever trapped in ice.

 

She should have done this decades ago.

 

No matter what, Judith Eydris would know true Despair again.

 

The fluid gathered in her eyes and the blood started pumping through JoJo's veins. She looked up to where the sky would be miles up above and readied herself. Two quick shots through the coffin and she would finally be free! There would be no turning back now!

 

Then she heard it; the sound she gave up on ever knowing.

 

A fishing ship in these waters was common. Jude had grown used to it, except for this one. This ship that stopped above her coffin and lowered down a hook from some kind of crane. Was it mechanical? It was certainly much more advanced, naturally.

 

It was moving closer and closer. It was going straight down towards her coffin. Jude felt her lips wet and her body shook with anticipation. She cancelled her attack and waited for the moment of truth.

 

Decades ago, she might have balanced herself between wanting to be pulled out so that she could bring about worldwide despair and the despair of being stuck down here. Now there was nothing less she could have wanted than the former.

 

The crane hooked itself to her coffin. Her entire surroundings shook and she could feel her coffin shake from side to side as it was ripped off from where it had been buried. Jude felt her floor become lighter and the static stability gave way to wild swaying back and forth.

 

This was it. This was truly it. Judith was finally going to get out!

 

For the first time in a long while, she smiled to herself and a familiar laugh came from her lips.

 

This was going to be  _fun!_

 

\---

 

It's one of the great mysteries for seafarers and mystery fanatics alike.

 

A crew on a fishing boat found a coffin. That was the very last report they gave. There were no other ships for miles and the tide wasn't calm enough for even an olympic swimmer to make for shore without severe exhaustion at least. It was impossible for someone to have stowed away on the boat and pulled it off.

 

So how was it that the entire ship found itself completely coated in blood?

 

For starters, that wasn't actually for case. The presumed amount of blood spilled was about enough for three-quarters of the crew fully. This, however, was semantics and merely a way to avoid asking dark questions.

 

A great many of the rooms on the ship had their walls, floor, and ceiling painted with blood. The few surviving crew-members may have been able to give testimony; if it weren't for the fact that their eyes, ears, tongue, and fingers had been ripped from their bodies.

 

The investigators' claim that the crew members died shortly after being found was always suspect. But who would charge them for mercy-killing?

 

Going by the barnacles and sea-life that had built up around the coffin, it was impossible for someone to have been in that coffin, lying in wait. An already ridiculous theory was thrown out the window.

 

The amount of people necessary for pulling such an operation off was so large that it was impossible. The crew themselves lacked any sins other than a greater desire for wealth than the average person and could be blinded by it. Yet they had no enemies.

 

Did they stumble on something they weren't meant to see? The police tried to find a gang that fitted such a description and came up short. No matter what heinous and evil soul they found, willing to confess to all kinds of sick acts, none confessed to this crime and those that did were clearly innocent.

 

Those who believe in the occult say that there was a curse in the coffin. A curse that tore apart the crew and served as a reminder that sometimes man should not go too deep into the ocean.

 

But who would believe such a silly thing?

 

In the end, the mystery would never be solved for most people. It was a simple tragedy for which people would think about for a day and then move on with their lives. Even the friends and family of the crew would accept that this was an unsolvable case and move on.

 

For Judith Eydris, however, basking under the night sky, only one thing about that whole incident mattered to her.

 

She was free and could still spread the blessed Despair that would save her from her own ennui.

 

This time, no one was going to stop her.


	9. Helter Skelter

**Arc Two: The World Under Hell**

 

****Chapter Seven: Helter Skelter** **

 

 

\---

 

Judith Eydris gave up on the Joestars when she realised they were no longer the family she knew.

 

Only one Joestar had returned to England after Erina popped her clogs in 1950 and that was just for the occasional grave and business visit. Their legacy was forgotten and it seemed as if they had forgotten the Ripple as well. Peace made them boring.

 

Just looking at JoJo's grandson, savaged by time despite his muscles, was pitiful enough from a newspaper copy from the last year. She didn't want to imagine how he looked now at the age of sixty-something.

 

Besides, she was done with family for the moment. She only needed JoJo right now.

 

So that was why she embraced the air and swallowed in the moonlight. She basked in midnight and turned the darkness into her little kingdom. The blood and despair of that crew was a fine appetiser. All the boredom and madness of that damn coffin was all but a distant memory now.

 

It still wasn't enough. Jude needed more Despair. She would start off small, as she travelled across the world, and would slowly build up the high again. Swarming the world with zombies immediately would have been boring. Honestly, she only expected that thrill to last a couple of years after exterminating the last humans.

 

Now? Now the idea of being alone on this earth disappointed her.

 

That was why she chose to wander this giant ball of blue and green and all kinds of colours for a bit.

 

The year was 1983 and Judith wanted to know all about humanity's new advances and mistakes. All about the hopes and despairs that they brought themselves.

 

She learnt of the war to end all wars and then of the even more terrible and bloody war that came not even two decades after. She learnt of the bomb that could kill for years and the arsenal built up through mutual tensions and fears. The Cold War that almost destroyed humanity for her a few times now.

 

The Doomsday Clock...the thought of it reaching midnight excited her.

 

All of the work she had done to spread despair and all of JoJo and his allies' work on stopping her. To think that it had all been for nothing as the very lives JoJo sought to protect would destroy themselves. To think that she may have been left under the sea forever while the world boiled and choked on radiation.

 

Jude had been lucky there were toilets nearby when she thought of it.

 

Compared to that, who gave a damn about some real estate man or whatever dumb business Speedwagon set up? Jude had billions of lifetimes to study and bring humanity into despair. Why should she care about inferior versions of JoJo when she had the real deal?

 

So Judith Eydris abandoned everything from her past; even her plans themselves.

 

That was why JUDE began to explore the world. The plan she and Martha had just under a century ago before the Stone Mask.

 

Out went the old clothes and in with the new.

 

She would devour the films and television and radio programmes of the day. She would learn more about the blood-soaked history and the changes in technology. In a matter of weeks, you would have never expected that she had been disconnected from the world since the 1880s. Why she was even more well-versed in modern global culture and fashion than most others.

 

In that journey, she did find herself bringing despair and woe to those around her. Innocent souls who thought her as vulnerable were surprised to find the head of a beautiful woman on top of a body belonging to a wrestler or bodybuilder. They should have been focusing on that sharp tongue and keen eyes that read them entirely.

 

She did find others, however, who intrigued her for more than just their misery. People with powers much like a vampire's or a Ripple-user's and yet so completely different. Powers that were either small but flexible or overpowering but too specific. Powers that may have even surpassed her own.

 

JUDE began to study these strange people on her travels. From their identities to their families to even their likely destinations in the future.

 

She had the feeling it'd be useful one day.

 

\---

 

JUDE fucked a lot of women.

 

What could she say? She still had a hot body and while JoJo had been as innocent as a maiden, his body could go when it needed to. If anything, she did Erina a favour by taking JoJo away after a single fuck. A dainty little creature like that was no match for the Joestar sex-drive! JUDE should have been thanked, rather than cursed.

 

Oh well, she had a fun way to pay it back.

 

She fucked men too, but it was harder. The kind of people who wanted to fuck someone with a body like hers sped for the hills the moment they looked at her face. They wanted a big strong man, not a creature with the face of the most beautiful woman in the world.

 

But women? Women were more adventurous, or were less picky about what kind of adventure they wanted. The young women who were taking a journey to free themselves from expectations back home were especially so. All they wanted was to experience a great ride before settling into an eternity of motherhood and being wives to some dumb-fuck down the road who their parents either didn't mind or fucking hated.

 

It made it easier to lure them into her arms; whether by her natural charm or by her vampirism.

 

Her bed-warmers were either tools to entertain her or food to keep her sustained. Once she got bored, she either killed them, or played a very different game.

 

The condom was a pretty nifty invention for being able to have sex without having kids. But once you put a hole in it, no matter how tiny, and it was about as useful as a house without walls.

 

JUDE often wished she'd be there for when they'd come home and find out that they were pregnant. A simple choice would end up sealing away their fun-filled futures and make them resent their own children for tying them down and robbing them of their fun. Her own flesh and blood would be without love and the innocent women would be trapped in their twenties.

 

Maybe one of her children would inherit everything about her. Not just her good looks and analysis powers, but also her endless search for a Despair to liberate themselves with. Some woman whose name wasn't even worth remembering in some foreign land would give birth to the heir to JUDE. That'd make them interesting for more than one fuck.

 

But there was one woman who caught her eye. One woman who made her interested.

 

It was not for her good heart. Quite the opposite.

 

JoJo did react well when he realised what she was doing with her and all the other girls. He claimed she was destroying entire families. He even said that she was leading this woman on when she kept her around for more than one session. Although he later admitted to hoping that she might save her soul even now.

 

JUDE simply laughed at him.

 

"She's just a tool like most others..." JUDE licked her lips and enjoyed JoJo's shudder. "Or maybe even food."

 

Shiobana. A girl from Japan who was having a holiday in Egypt; courtesy of her parents' wallets and ever-shrinking love for their daughter who knew nothing of their virtues and everything of their vices. From what little she told JUDE about her 'terrible' parents, they were reaching their wit's end.

 

Why not? Their daughter was failing at school because she'd rather party than study. She had a sharper mind than most people expected but was happy to dull it with drugs. She put her own happiness over everyone else's well-being, no matter how insignificant it was.

 

In short; Shiobana was a selfish girl with a sinful soul.

 

JUDE thought she was absolutely perfect to bear her child with. Her parents would squeal at the thought of her embarrassing the family with an abortion, she was too much of an egotist to think beyond the baby's looks, and she was the kind of girl who would never grow into the ideal mother. She would never abandon her desire for a free life unless forced.

 

A child of her's and JUDE's would soon drown in despair. JUDE would have yet again made a member of her family suffer. Something so innocent would be doomed to a life of endless misery and corruption.

 

_But he'll be of JoJo's blood too. He'll be more our child than Shiobana's._ JUDE couldn't help but giggle at the thought. She wondered whose hair he'd have.  _JoJo...your son will be abused and hurt. As a babe, the despair and horror of being left alone will drive him to tears. He'll never know you as his father. The curses and abuses that'll await him will break him down and make him loathe humanity. That's when it'll happen. Our son will slowly turn into someone cruel and vicious; a little copy of me. I couldn't think of a better baby boy._

 

That was why JUDE didn't drink her blood, or torture her to death, or even just discard her. She stayed in Egypt longer than she expected. She and Shiobana would build new ties and show each other a life of debauchery and fun. Shiobana even learned to accept JUDE's appearance as a chance for young experimentation and to know unique pleasures. Just as JUDE learned to indulge in Shiobana's ideas of fun too.

 

After all, why not live life to fullest?

 

(The raves and drugs that came with Shiobana weren't half-bad either.)

 

\---

 

"Forty-eight, forty-nine," Shiobana was careful in putting the last pill into the blender, despite not even attempting to make some kind of pattern before. "Fifty! Fifty ecstasy pills. There's no way you could survive that."

 

JUDE smirked and leered at her fuck-buddy. "Try me."

 

Drugs were like despair. You started with some gateway stuff like pulling your sister's hair, throwing rocks at a cat, or in this case weed. It'd work for a while, sure, but then you needed something more. You had to hurt people, or do cocaine. After that, you then had to start hurting them real bad, so much so that they don't recover, and possibly some crystal meth and ecstasy.

 

Soon, however, you'd reach the point where experimentation and testing the boundaries of what a human could take was the only way to survive the day. The only reason that you got up from bed and didn't just kill yourself.

 

In terms of drugs, that meant taking cocktails of legal shit and a load of the drugs you did before.

 

1984- the year Orwell wrote of as being the year that a man dared to think of defiance against a totalitarian regime and was destroyed all but physically for it- was the year of drugs for JUDE. If anything, she was closer to the Brave New World where everyone blinded themselves with hedonism and wealth from the despair around them. It suited a world where men could make billions in a week while other starved to death halfway across the world; hell, halfway across the street! Where most humans ignored the truth behind this, JUDE embraced it and gloried in her own madness. 

 

She imagined a lot of humans felt the same about themselves, in seeking an almost despairing pleasure in destroying their bodies and numbing their minds, Shiobana included.

 

She probably should try to remember her first name.

 

But she didn't give enough of a fuck.

 

It was easier for the two to see just how many drugs they could take, how many hours of sleep they could ditch for partying at the nightclubs, and also how many times they could have sex, before it got boring. In this case, they were testing the limits of JUDE's inhuman body.

 

She had to be honest, Shiobana's immediate reaction to learning of her vampirism being to do more drugs might have had JUDE fall in love with her on the spot, if it weren't so predictable.

 

Still, JUDE could only blame herself for drinking something that tasted like liquid boredom.

 

On the other hand, everything between that point and the next morning didn't exist. All that was left were sensations and dreams.

 

JUDE had awoken to find herself in bed with Shiobana wrapped in covers next to her, a room literally torn to shreds, and a familiar thick scent wafting around the room. The windows only being allowed to be opened at night really did backfire sometimes.

 

(JUDE's home was by the River Nile to remind herself of that time underwater.)

 

(She still never wore covers and tore off anything between her bed and the roof. She didn't even wear pyjamas. One girl tried to be kind and give her a blanket.

 

(She died screaming.)

 

It'd been long and boring work to cover all the windows and doors for the daytime. It had meant the place needed constant air-conditioning for Shiobana to survive in it. But it also meant that JUDE could make brunch since Shiobana broke the toaster last time she tried it.

 

"How do you even do it? How is your body that freaky?" Shiobana asked. JUDE switched to Gloomy and ignored the chuckles directed towards her mushrooms.

 

"I thought you liked it. You certainly weren't complaining last night."

 

"Yeah, because you did that shit with your tongue. Which is still gross." Shiobana replied. If it was Gene Simmons, she wouldn't have been saying that, or looking at JUDE all judging. "But you can't say you're not a freak. You're beautiful, but that body is only attractive until I see your face. Then it sometimes feels like I'm fucking a tranny."

 

JUDE let tears gather at the ends of her eyes and more mushrooms grew. "You're so mean." Her whimpers, however, gave way to a smirk as she reached over the counter and moved a familiar toy over her face. "Upupupu, try being a toy to this child! I've seen horrible things! What kind of woman has that kind of tattoo on her heinie?! It's bear-y disturbing, if you ask me."

 

"Oh Christ, not him! Not Monokuma! One night I let you use him and he's there forever." Shiobana said as she leaned away from the teddy-bear.

 

"Come on...you named him. Don't you feel any responsibility to your baby?" JUDE asked. She changed up her voice and made the bear extend its arms. "Mama! It's unbearable to see you reject me. Just give me some of that milk and I'll be happy. Please, Mama."

 

Shiobana put a hand on the bear's tummy and shoved it away with clear disgust. "It reminds me of my parents! 'When you have a child, you'll have to sacrifice some of your freedom for their sake. Just as we did with you. It'll be worth it when you see their eyes.' Urgh! Fuck that! What's wrong with living a life of fun? If my kid loves me, he'll love my happiness." She waved her hand as if Monokuma was a stray dog. "So go play with your father."

 

Monokuma began to cry at the rejection of his mother with big and elaborate sobs. Only a woman with a heart of stone wouldn't take back her words! At Shiobana's stone-faced rejection, however, JUDE offered a smile and Monokuma quickly got over it.

 

"I'm gonna be des-bear now." Monokuma declared. JUDE groaned and looked away. "Okay, that one was shitty."

 

"I've been meaning to ask about that. What's up with it? The whole Despair shtick? For someone who likes to party and have fun, you sure like that word a lot. Isn't it supposed to be, you know, shitty?"

 

JUDE stopped what she was doing. The cereal would be milkless, but that didn't matter.

 

She'd always been happy to explain her love for despair, but Shiobana was probably the first person since Martha to take the initiative and ask her about Despair itself. It was actually pretty amazing.

 

And all the more despairing because she knew Shiobana wouldn't care about the answer.

 

"What's Hope?" JUDE asked, to which Shiobana looked at her with vacant eyes. "Think about it. You hope for a life of freedom and parties. Why? Because you loath responsibility and consequences. You feel no happiness from others unless you benefit directly. The way you dress and look, the way you speak and act, and the way you even react to people with facial expressions alone tell me this."

 

"Like that number game trick. A number from 1 to 3, two guesses, and you got it. 2.5." Shiobana said, recollecting the night they had first met.

 

"Because you'd pull off that trick, but not something too specific because you thought I was dumb." JUDE explained. "So you went with more decimal places the next time, then a whole number after that, and then you cheated by choosing 4."

 

"Okay, but what does this have to do with-"

 

"Hope is predictable. Hope is harmony. Hope is everyone's ideal and, once you understand a person, you can get it right." JUDE said. She had stopped caring about Shiobana, looking and speaking past her, to some invisible observer. "But Despair? Despair is different. Despair is unpredictable. Despair is chaos and anarchy and madness. It's the one thing I can't predict.

 

JUDE's breathing had gotten deeper and her eyes frantically wide. "How do we react when everything we know is wrong? When the one we love cares nothing for us and merely wished to take? When meaningless tragedy robs what we have? That is when we Despair. That is when we see true change and improbability. The endless potential of someone brought down to zero."

 

"So basically you got bored one day and discovered it was fun to watch stuff burn? That's it?" Shiobana didn't seem the least impressed with Jude's reasoning.

 

"Shiobana, you are the last person to act like you've got an actual fucking direction in life." JUDE snapped. Yet she went from anger to absolute affection in an instant. Her pupils grew and she played cute. "But that's why I'm totally and unconditionally in love with you! Let's run away together and start up a new life! We'll raise a family! Please, I'll do anything! I'll be the wife and you can party all night! I'll be your everything."

 

In reply to Jude's open arms, she got a palm shoving at her face. "Nice try. I'm beat for the day." She said. JUDE pulled a pair of spectacles from the counter and put them on.

 

"It makes sense. A mortal human can only take so much before age catches up." JUDE toyed with the glasses before throwing them aside. Her eyebrows furrowed and her open tongue wiggled out from her mouth. "Weren't even that good a fuck last night."

 

"Is that why you were moaning someone else's name? JoJo? Even mentioned Martha? You've done it before. Who're they? More girls?" Shiobana said. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't hide her jealousy for shit.

 

JUDE froze.

 

Shiobana heard that?

 

"What were you even dreaming about anyway?" She asked. JUDE ignored her. She was too caught up in the dream.

 

_JoJo was weeping over the corpse of his beloved Erina. On top of being killed, it was clear that she had been dishonoured and had no clothes. Sometimes it was just torture and other times it was rape. Sometimes he would cry over Martha's dead body, after she sacrificed herself for him. Other times, it was JoJo who suffered one of those fates and Erina who wept over him. There were even a few where it was Martha who bitterly wept over JoJo's corpse._

_This time, however, it was JoJo crying over Erina._

_Judith Eydris, whether as a vampire or a human, would mock and tease JoJo with or without Martha. She had successfully murdered every single one of his friends and family. She had exterminated the Joestar wealth and name. The only thing he had left were the people who took everything else away from him and his fate would forever be tied to hers._

_Wasn't it enough to make him despair?_

_It turns out it was._

_JoJo's Despair was glorious, epic, and completely terrifying._

_His punch always had enough force to knock Jude onto the ground and daze her. Her jaw was bruised and the pain made her hair go loose. She'd try to stand up, only for a tight grip on her arms to force her down. No matter what she did, she couldn't break the grip._

_This time it was Martha holding her down. Her expression held no sympathy and looked to JoJo for the lead. Other times it was Erina or JoJo doing this, looking to the one who struck Judith for their lead. One time it was Martha and Erina._

_JoJo growled of how he had tried to be kind and how he tried to live as an admirable gentleman. He tried to be the best of humanity and shine through with his will and determination. He tried to be a good man. For that, he lost everything._

_So now he would give her a true punishment. The only punishment he could think of that she couldn't turn against him or any other innocents._

_As he unbuckled his belt, Jude was already fighting against Martha's grip. There was always a reason that Martha betrayed her and it'd be why she was deaf to her sister's pleading. Not that she'd ever escape JoJo anyway._

_His clothes were already off as he tore away at hers. He'd hiss at the whore struggling against her just desserts as he'd grip her ankles hard enough to bruise them. Her legs would be far apart while Martha would straddle her face._

_The two of them would then get to work on punishing and breaking-_

 

"You can say that." JUDE replied. It was too early in the morning to remember everything and she even felt a new personality coming along. This one rarely came up outside her talks with JoJo. "Hey, Shiobana?"

 

JUDE swiftly walked away from the cereal, went around the kitchen-counter dividing them, and instead moved to Shiobana's left. She knelt on one knee and looked up adoringly.

 

This was all JoJo talking. A true gentleman who'd charm the ladies.

 

"Are you sure you're completely tired? That you truly cannot do more with me." JUDE did her best gentlemanly smile as she knelt before Shiobana.

 

Her reward was Shiobana smirking and extending her leg out until her bare foot hooked around the back of JUDE's head. "Since you asked so nicely, I suppose I'll allow you something."

 

God, she could be hot when being a bitch sometimes. If only she wasn't always a total cunt.

 

JUDE could always count on her tongue to bring her back in line. Even when it wasn't, she always had JoJo's body to do its part in making Shiobana become nice and quiet, or foul and loud. In this case, JUDE mostly focused on her JoJo, Gloomy, and Queen personalities.

 

Swapping between the personalities during sex was one of the highlights of them. She'd treat Shiobana like a princess, mewl for something similar, and then turn demanding. The girl herself had learnt to adjust and she seemed happier for it.

 

Bareback always got her back in line.

 

(In the end, Shiobana didn't even pay attention to the fact that JUDE wasn't wearing a condom. It wouldn't be the last time.)

 

(When she'd leave for Japan, months later, she'd be coming back with two gifts; a Monokuma and a ball of cells that'd become a newborn baby to play with it.)

 

\---

 

Enya Geil found her on the streets of Cairo one night and became among her most devout follower in an hour.

 

The old woman had been getting ready for her nightly business. By the day, she was known as a mere fortune-teller among others- giving out predictions that would give good or bad news depending on what would make tourists pay more. For natives, used to trickery and deceit, it was about interpreting the cards 'right'.

 

Nighttime was different.

 

People wanted services that were not allowed in the light of the sun. Some wanted true fortunes that would show them their Fate, good or bad. Some wished for rumours heard on the streets in exchange for money. Others wished for items that would have them cast out from law and society.

 

Poisons and killings were Enya's business. Her beloved and good son continued the latter work, on top of his own needs, whilst Enya handled poison.

 

Her withered and small figure made it easy to do her work. Few guards ever wanted to investigate the areas she roamed and those that did were looking for brooding youngsters and bitter old men.

 

She had lived long enough to disregard most of her customers. All of them simply wished to be told what they wanted to be told but convincingly and others thought otherwise until they heard the truth. So many others were fools who thought their problems would go away if someone else handled it for them.

 

For a woman like her; who could use the Major and Minor Arcana to their true potential and understand the dark mysteries of this world, they were an easy source of cash if not targets for her son. Life had grown boring for her regardless. The price of success combined with the knowledge that she had done nothing to change the tides of Fate.

 

She could perceive beyond the common man and yet never found a great one.

 

So when Enya saw the giant foreigner coming her way, she thought little of it. She could tell why they were there and who had called upon them.

 

Apparently she did the fortune of some girl last night, just before she was returning to Japan, and she wasn't happy. Some people were too smart to be completely fooled, but too stupid to understand the truth. Her attitude had angered Enya and she decided to show her the truth of her Fate.

 

Some girls just didn't like it when being told they'd be a mother next year, would lose her parents' affection (and funds more importantly) and eventually be forced to care for her son.

 

At first, she thought it'd be trouble. Her J Geil was nearby and was a shout away from coming.

 

Until the person removed their cloak.

 

A woman! The head of a woman on the body of a man! Enya had seen many deformities and strange people over the years, but none of whom were like this woman! A scar featured over her neck; a clear sign that the head did not belong on that body.

 

She introduced herself as Jude and asked for her fortune.

 

"The truth. I'm not like my dear ex-girlfriend." Jude's expression changed in a flash. She sneered and flicked both middle fingers out along with her tongue. "Bitch shouldn't have spent my money on tarot-readings if she didn't want to get shat on!"

 

Enya had decided to go along with the wishes of this woman. She hadn't thought much of it.

 

The Major Arcana was what she went with. The Minor Arcana would have taken too long and this woman had an impatient look about her. As if merely sitting and waiting was akin to laying on a bed of needles slowly driving into your skin.

 

First was the Hermit Arcana. Enya had to rub her eyes to make sure that it wasn't just her who noticed the way that the card shined. Never had she seen the imagery so captivating and trying to pull her in. It symbolised a time of isolation and returning with new knowledge- so how long had this woman been alone?! She didn't seem a day over nineteen!

 

Second was the Wheel of Fate. Jude's destiny was tied to a particular fate and that fate was being decided by the stars in the sky and the gravity of the universe. The same gravity that controlled all people's destiny. That had definitely made her unhappy, but she didn't seem too displeased with Enya.

 

Enya had thought she was simply an eccentric with a murky past.

 

Then the final card came.

 

The Tower! The Tower Arcana was a card she had seen so many times before. Destruction followed by change. Yet this! This! This was unlike any other Tower Arcana she had played before! This was a card that was the very definition of the Tower itself!

 

Enya, for a brief moment, saw the world itself be destroyed. She saw the dead rise and the living fall and all hope would be set aflame. And then she saw the tragedy that this woman could bring.

 

The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History!

 

Enya fell from her seat and screamed in horror and amazement. What power did this woman have?! What great and terrible deeds was she planning!

 

She finally saw the woman for what she was; the fangs on her teeth prominently shining under the streetlights, the way her muscles twitched with an unearthly power, the way her bright-blue eyes hid a dark deep void within them from which Enya doubted any light truly escaped from, her smile so much like a predator's. It may have reminded Enya of her younger self, all those years ago, if it for the physical inhumanity.

 

This woman...this woman was the kind that drove painters to waste years of their lives to capture a single moment of their beauty. This woman was the kind of person who would tear down the structures of the world and build it anew in her image. This woman was the kind that would change the world simply by existing!

 

She was the sun and, now and forever, Enya was caught in her orbit.

 

"So I guess you've seen it too," Jude leaned over and grinned. It was hideous and yet beautiful, the way her teeth perfectly fit together when revealed like that. "Enya the Hag...your fortune-telling amused me, but it's you and your son I truly care about. Those dark souls and the refusal to deny yourselves pleasure; even at the cost of the lives and hopes of others."

 

Enya wondered how she had never seen it before. The charisma that was leaking out from Jude's whole body. The certainty of her plans and visions that made Enya believe that no one else would ever be able to overcome it. That sheer raw power bursting from her.

 

"Enya, if you wish to see how far I can go, then join me, Judith Eydris. Join me and help me bring about a Despair the likes of which humanity has never seen. Join me and we'll travel this world and find the key to bringing about the end of civilisation and humanity as we know it!"

 

JUDE extended a hand out to Enya.

 

Before Enya was the path to a greater future. Before Enya was the woman who would without a doubt change the very world itself. Before Enya was the master of her own Fate. The one who would seize it, destroy it, and then create it anew.

 

So Enya took the hand extended to her and never regretted it.

 

\---

 

"JoJo...I don't know how yet, but it's going to happen..." JUDE kissed the top of the skull and whispered to it, "The tragedy that I will bring to humanity will be coming. I just need to think of it first."

 

JUDE had taken the time to make Enya know that she only needed to do a handful of things for her. Much of it was simply making sure that sunlight didn't touch JUDE while she slept, arranging for transportation, and that she got Jude that bird she had her eye out for.

 

The falcon had a cold look in its eye. There was something within those eyes that made it so different from the others. A sort of calculating look on its fellow animals as if it wanted nothing more than to seize them as prey. The only reason it restricted itself was that the owner had a chain around its foot and had bound its wings.

 

Until JUDE saw it. The falcon took one look at her and there was a change. Its icy demeanour shifted into curiosity. Most animals screeched and wailed and ran when they saw her. Not the falcon; which instead tilted its head and seemed unable to decide what it thought of her.

 

That uncertainty that became a yearning. A yearning for her to take it and make it her own.

 

It reminded JUDE of Martha. A pet that was willing to kill and maim for a single person for a reason no other person in the world would understand.

 

She named it Pet Shop.

 

Other than that, she only really wanted one thing. The clothes on her back could be changed and a vampire did not need to sleep or eat or even drink. That much was clear.

 

But under no circumstances could even a scratch be laid on JoJo.

 

Who else would she have to speak to about her plans and visions? Who else could she be alone with and trade banter with. Her Despair against his Hope. The question of what she'd be planning and what some mysterious stranger would do to stop her.

 

All the while, JUDE would do little things. She'd look the other way when a child was being kidnapped, she would slip her purse into someone's pocket and claim she was being robbed, and now she and Enya would point J Geil towards a target and let him have fun with her.

 

Enya was fun. She was as loyal as Martha had been, but was more than happy to engage in some despair just for the hell of it. Her love for her son blinded her to the insanity of letting him murder and butcher innocent women and that just made Jude even happier.

 

She heard the screams, weeping, and then pleading and it was music to her ears. It was like seeing Jack the Ripper all over again, but this time there was not a person in the world who knew of the true identity of these women's killer.

 

JUDE loved talking to JoJo because she could tell him all this and he would insist, insist until the very end, that his family would stop her. That her Despair would be ended.

 

As she found more people with strange powers, like J Geil and all those she found on her journeys, she sometimes wondered if one of the Joestars would have such a power. Maybe if one of JoJo's descendants had it, they could rise up and she would have a rival to fight with.

 

But that was a pipe-dream.

 

Jonathan Joestar's legacy died with Speedwagon; the last of the circle who defeated her. The Joestars that remained were old and weak. There was no chance of them stopping her.

 

She would need a plan. She had delayed it long enough and was beginning to feel the hunger again. The hunger to corrupt more people and begin moving on a larger scale. A hunger that could no longer be sated with individual or family-sized torturing and murder.

 

No one would be able to stop her now.

 

(Just as soon as she figured out the dreams she'd been having.)

 

\---

 

A year had passed when she finally found it.

 

JUDE held the Arrow in her hand and gazed at it intently. She devoured the beautiful gold sheen along the entire Arrow and the ornately-designed insect on the arrow-head. That was likely the most important part of the Arrow itself. Without it, it'd be an ancient, pretty, piece of junk.

 

Enya had spoken of those with power- 'Stand-users'- like herself and her son. None of them knew how they had this power and none of them ever found out. Enya only knew of its name and legacy from her decades of living and line of work. JUDE had catalogued, analysed, and tore apart those with that power and didn't find a single thing.

 

Until now.

 

This was the key to her discovering her new plan for Despair. A plan that would make zombifying the world look utterly pitiful in comparison. A plan that would justify her delay.

 

The Arrow was many things to JUDE. It was alluring, powerful, and above all else, interesting.

 

That was why JUDE sat on a chair in the library of her mansion in Cairo and continued to inspect the weapon as if it held some new secret. All the while Enya was talking about where she found the collection of these things and the man who found them originally.

 

"-and I bought five of them from the boy. He wouldn't give me his name, but he kept an Arrow for himself." Enya explained, whilst kneeling before her. JUDE didn't pay her much mind, however. "I can send my son after him. We can take it back for ourselves. Even one of these Arrows, that can unlock the power of a soul's potential and bring it to life, would be a threat to your plans, Lady JUDE."

 

JUDE ran her left index finger along the shaft of the Arrow up to the insect-shaped arrow-head. It glided and danced along the design and she took care not to cut herself. However, she could not resist its shine. Not when it was held such charm and wonder to her.

 

"Lady JUDE?" Enya's voice finally caught Jude's attention. She'd only been half-listening to the story, but had regarded the description of the boy with interest.

 

"Nah. Let's leave him. From what you've told me, I think we can trust him to use that last arrow for something fun." JUDE hummed. Maybe he'd even be someone to bring about despair for the world, or despite to her. Either way, she was focused on the Arrow. "How does it work again?"

 

"I imagine it works as with all arrows. Simply pierce it into your skin and- LADY JUDE!!!" Enya howled.

 

JUDE had just pierced the Arrow straight into her right eye. It had been years since she had felt true pain. JoJo's Ripple was now but a distant memory to her. Her mind and body hadn't had to adjust for injuries in a long time.

 

But that wasn't the only reason she howled in agony and nearly bit off her own tongue.

 

She could feel the light bursting out from where the Arrow had struck. Green and purple circles shot out from her head and expanded as they got further from her. The light shining out and the pain itself was so much like when she had put on that Stone Mask.

 

Her entire bloodstream was turning to poison. It was as if her whole body was filling up with lava. She could feel the energy inside welling up and growing further and further. If she didn't let it out soon, surely it would grow too far and she would explode. Explode into little bloody chunks that would never reform and she'd be dead. The life of JUDE would end just a few years after it began.

 

If it weren't for three voices, she may have become deaf to the world as she fought with herself.

 

"Lady JUDE!" Enya screamed again. She believed in her master's will and yet was still horrified.

 

"Judith!" JoJo cried out. He knew that she was a villain, but she was still his sister.

 

_"Jude!!!"_ Martha screeched. JUDE's blood went cold and she started hyperventilating. Her breaths grew deeper and she felt the burning sensation inside her gradually seep out from her body and form a shape.

 

She realised that she'd been gripping onto the shaft of the Arrow and dropped it. Blood poured down from her eye as Enya rushed to grab some of her blood supply. JUDE remembered it being a man this time. She breathed in an entire sky's worth of air and breathed it out again.

 

JUDE ignored Enya's rushing and instead looked up at the instrument of her plan up above.

 

It definitely had JoJo's muscles. It must have been about 195cm tall and every part of it was hard muscle, except for the breasts which themselves were a direct copy of JUDE'S own before she stole JoJo's body. Its entire left side was black and its eye was a sharp red horizontal stripe, in contrast to the pure white colouring for its right side, its own eye being a normal one.

 

On its head it wore a tall cap fit for the pharaohs of old, which itself extended down to the bottom of the nose, and on top of that cap was an inverted triangle pattern. Along its back were two thin oxygen-tanks and around its shoulders were two thick, ridged straps. The back of its hands had simple clock faces, but the strangest feature of all were the familiar bear-faces- also divided in half into white and black- on the kneecaps, chin, crotch, and base of the abdomen.

 

It was beautiful.

 

JUDE and her Stand looked each other in the eye. She had finally seen the manifestation of her dreams both sleeping and awake and it was glorious.

 

As if it read her mind- because it was her mind, soul, and spirit- The World grinned and user and Stand began to laugh together.

 

"Upupupupu."


	10. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

**Arc Two: The World Under Hell  
Chapter Eight: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band**

\---

  
There was a way to Heaven.  
  
Not the Heaven that Mary Eydris spoke of to her daughters. A different kind of Heaven. The kind of Heaven that could be achieved on Earth and for all humanity.  
  
It was the prize that all mankind sought. A way for them to end suffering and misery and despair and to instead bring about a world of happiness and peace. A world where everyone could understand one another and the future ahead of them.  
  
No more would people be driven mad by uncertainty, or question the intentions of those close and far from them. No longer would people ask themselves if their lives would be defined by success or failure. The complex nature of Fate would finally be understood.  
  
If it only hadn't been JUDE who found the way to it.  
  
 _What you'll need is our Stand "The World".  
  
Beyond the powers of this Stand is where you're gonna have to go if you're going to climb that stairway to Heaven. First, you'll need a soul devoted to the cause so much that they care for it infinitely more than matters of wealth, sex, fame, political power, and will be willing to defy every one of the laws of Man for this power. I wonder if I'll ever find someone with such dedication ever again?  
  
Then you'll need the souls of thirty-six sinners. Those who live in and give out Despair are stronger than those who break before it. They will be the stepping-stones that you must tread on to accomplish the dream you seek to impose on all others.  
  
Then the fourteen phrases need to be spoken;  _Spiral staircase, Rhinoceros beetle, Ruins street, Fig tart, Rhinoceros beetle, Via dolorosa, Singularity point, Giotto, Angel, Hydrangea, Rhinoceros beetle, Singularity point, Secret Emperor. It's stupid, but wait until you see what it does._  
  
I only need to read these words once before they remain in my mind forever. That is the talent of one who can perceive the gravity that drives humans together and determines their choices.  
  
After that, I'll have to be willing to destroy myself. To not only embrace the Despair of death, but to also surrender it for life again. That is the price of destroying The World. But in that process, I'll devour the souls of the thirty-six, and I will cease to be myself and instead become something new. Something beyond me...  
  
I'll have to count on this person of unquestionable dedication to speak the words and bring me to their side. But will they be so dedicated to my cause and me personally? Will they have their own powerful will and cast me down or make the new me into their stepping-stone? Even as that new creature...the Despair I'd feel would be on a level like none other.  
  
After that, you just need the coordinates that time and gravity will decide. I'll include them later, when I find a soul so dedicated that they can be manipulated, or will choose this path for themselves.  
  
Go there and wait for the New Moon. Once it arrives...  
  
You will reach Heaven and become God._  
  
JUDE finished writing and smiled down at her work. The dreams she'd imagined and the plan she had been searching for ever since she escaped the coffin had come together into this. The diary page that documented the path towards Heaven and the power to force change onto the world.  
  
What would she decide when she reached Heaven?  
  
Would she bring it about and create a world without Despair? A world where all life knew of their Fate, down to the tiniest detail, and would be forced to endure it with resolve? A world where all knew that they had no choice and that JUDE would decide their Fate?  
  
Or maybe she would enter Heaven and destroy it. Yes...Yes! That sounded much better!  
  
A world where no one could perceive the future for certainty would be a lie! A world where all were freed from the confines of morality and attachment and instead could change in the blink of an eye! They would be closer to animals than men! They would be as devoted to Despair as her and all of time and space would be warped so that not even the present would be certain.  
  
Chaos and madness would reign supreme! A world where no one had control and were caught in the roaring tides of Despair! Their Hope and pre-determined harmony would be be forever destroyed!  
  
Yes! JUDE had made up her mind. She now knew just what her destiny would be. All of humanity would be nothing more than pawns in her great game. Maybe that'd be an idea; have humanity all locked into separate games where they'd have to kill each other!  
  
There'd be new twists, new rules, and the winners would move onto the next Mutual Killing Game! On and on until JUDE would be tired of it. Then she'd just change the universe again! She would make it so that the forces of gravity would be impossible to perceive and without pattern!  
  
This would be her final and greatest plan! A way to destroy any trace of JoJo's victory and completely spit on the legacy of the Joestar name!  
  
JUDE would bring about Hell on Earth.  
  


\---

  
"Yoshihiro Kira, was it?" JUDE's friendly smile collapsed with the rest of her face. She held one of her locks in one hand while tears gathered around her eyes. "I knew a girl from Japan. She totally broke up with me." Depression gave way to anger, flipping her middles fingers into the air and screaming, "Then again, the bitch was gettin' boring anyway!" Her expression turned childish- it might have been cute if it weren't for the contrast. "Now I can date again. Yay!" Out of nowhere, she put on a pair of glasses and her hair was wrapped in a ponytail. "Of course, with the reports of this HIV virus, I should be more careful for protection." Her hair returned to normal, but now she was wearing some kind of crown. "But since when does a woman like me fear the common sickness of humans?"  
  
Yoshihiro Kira was frozen in his seat. He didn't know what was happening, how it happened, and what was going to happen.  
  
He was meant to have been finishing a business trip in Cairo. Just some ordinary stuff for a man on his way out from the company. It was even all but a vacation after years of loyal service. After a day out on the bazaar, buying gifts for home, he had even made a call to his son in the hotel room.  
  
Yoshikage's mother had died recently and he wanted to know how his son was doing.  
  
Yes, he cared more about his son's reaction than his dead wife.  
  
His marriage hadn't been unhappy; they never fought and had agreed on how to raise Yoshikage with love and protection. It was simply that they had married because time was running out to marry at all. They had a child because they wanted to create the love that didn't exist between them. Just look at any family photo and you would see that it was peaceful, but only one person had known love and not simply companionship in that photo.  
  
Yoshikage was their treasured and beloved son. They gave him whatever he needed and kept him from the dangers of the world. Yoshihiro had admired how vigilant his wife had been to comfort and mother her child. He had never known beatings or foul language.  
  
All he had known was love and an emphasis on normality and safety.  
  
Even after he killed that girl.  
  
He shouldn't have brought it up. It was silly of him. What Yoshikage did in his room, even if it was a strange hobby like measuring the length of his cut nails, was his own business. If Yoshihiro didn't want to be curtly told to be quiet about it, he should have remembered the importance of boundaries.  
  
It was especially foolish to ask if there were more cases like that babysitter and her family.  
  
Yoshikage had hung up on him after that. Yoshihiro had decided to buy his son a gift as a peace-offering. It'd go well with the other presents he bought for him.  
  
Then the old hag and her master showed up.  
  
It was impossible! He had locked the door and window and yet there they were! Not even a mouse could move so quietly! And yet a beautiful woman with a body built for a male bodybuilder was grinning madly, holding a bag of some kind that had this strange pull to it, and the older woman was quietly chuckling to herself.  
  
Without even asking, the larger woman introduced herself as 'JUDE' and sat down on the chair. The hag called herself Enya and stood beside her.  
  
And now here they were.  
  
"C-C-Can I help you?" He asked. He cursed his weakness, but couldn't find the strength to stand up to that menacing aura.  
  
"It's not about what you can do for me." JUDE said, reaching down to a nearby bag. She threw it onto the table and, despite the messy handwriting, Yoshihiro recognised the words of him and his son. "It's about what you've already done for me."  
  
"Such a love you have for your son. It's quite admirable." Enya added mockingly.  
  
Yoshihiro's blood ran cold and he found the strength he'd been searching for. "What do you want with my son? I warn you, I will not let you harm him."  
  
"You really think you could stop me? If I wanted your son hurt, you would stop me?" JUDE's tone hadn't changed, but the aura around her grew. It grew until it flooded the room and Yoshihiro felt his airways get constricted. Then, as quickly as it came, it went. "But why would I want to harm such a talented young boy? Sounds like he's really likes his life. A shame about his little incident."  
  
"Do not worry. As a parent, I can understand your wish to protect your son." Enya's smile became slightly more genuine. Not nearly enough for Yoshihiro to let down his guard. "My little J Geil is the same. All we want is for our children to live happy lives without worry. So what if it means that others may suffer? What are a few sins compared to love?"  
  
"Someone close to me felt the same way. She always wanted to give me what I wanted, even if she never understood it, nor why I wished for it." JUDE said. Her smile was soft and a less cautious man would think her heart was softening too.  
  
Yoshihiro didn't understand what she meant. He thought that perhaps if he figured it out, he'd find a way to make them leave him in peace.  
  
"Your son is doomed to be caught." Enya said. Whatever kindness was in her voice, true or false, had vanished. She was back to mockery, jabbing a wrinkled finger at him. "You bought all these souvenirs for him, and all he cares about the copies of the Mona Lisa. In Cairo, of all places! Not to mention that the kind of people who kill tend to do it again."  
  
JUDE had her glasses and ponytail again and spoke matter-of-factly. "Let's not judge the boy, Yoshikage, was it? I've heard Europe's going through a startling crime boom! I can't ever imagine why. But the boy does certainly have a thing for hands. Must be weird having to get these gifts, knowing how he feels about them, and what he'll do with them." She motioned a giant hand to the pictures of women in one of Yoshihiro's bags. Seemingly innocent portraits of women that coincidentally emphasised the hands. "Can't be worse than murder."  
  
"S-Sex is not a simple thing. A great many people have interests that are considered strange." Yoshihiro said. It was true. But the reason he was stuttering over his words was not because his son was only interested in women's hands.  
  
"Preach it. I've seen some shit in those comics you people are good at making. I never knew they could grow that big." JUDE pouted and mushrooms grew on the top of her head. As if this day couldn't get any stranger! "Makes me feel small."  
  
"Lady JUDE sensed it, Yoshihiro. That dark will in your eyes. The desire for your son to live a life of contentment and pleasure, no matter who must be hurt for it to succeed. Ah, but will alone does not always mean action! Your age is catching up and your son's desires cannot be contained!" Enya cried out those words as if they were the words of Fate itself.  
  
"He will have the urge to murder once more and it will be harder to avoid being caught for each one." JUDE had returned to her usual self, but her words only grew sharper. "Despair will follow him if he tries to repress it and he will reject it. Despair will follow him when he does it and people will sniff it out. Then it's jail for him and a life of Despair will be eternal."  
  
It was a foolish mistake to show his tears so openly. But he couldn't help it! They were speaking the truth! What father could restrain himself when knowing that his son's fate was cursed! Yoshikage's desire to kill was in his nature. It was as much a part of him as his face!  
  
He had always had a violent streak. Whenever he'd never get his way, he would bite down on his nails until they broke. It was the best way to make Yoshihiro or his wife give in and give their son whatever it was he'd been denied.  
  
Maybe it spoilt him, but how many spoilt children became murders?!  
  
From the moment he realised what his son had done, Yoshihiro realised that there was nothing to do but to protect his son. To help him cover his crimes and help him continue a peaceful normal life. He just had to cover up the corpses building from Yoshikage's acts and keep a veneer of normality.  
  
It was the least he could do for his one and only son.  
  
"But you have a way, don't you?" Yoshihiro asked through his tears. "A way for him to live a peaceful and quiet life, even as he sates his desires that haunt him! That's why you're here!"  
  
Enya cackled whilst JUDE grinned in delight. "That's right." She replied. Her hands went to the bag she came in with, positioned by the back of her chair. "I've got two gifts here. One is for you to keep or give to little Yoshikage, and the other goes straight to him. Tell him it's a gift."  
  
JUDE's left hand held a teddy-bear with a bizarre design. One half was white and the other black. Yoshihiro may have been too old to appreciate modern tastes, but even he knew that such a toy wouldn't get his son's favour. This was just a taunt.  
  
It was her right hand that held the true importance. A large golden arrow that had an insect pattern on its head that came with a finely-crafted wooden bow.  
  
"Just pierce this Stand Arrow into your son and he shall awaken a Stand! Be warned; those whose hearts are weak will lose control of the Stand and he will be consumed by its power!" Enya said, although JUDE waved off the warning for Yoshihiro.  
  
"Don't worry, Yoshihiro. I know your son will be strong enough. Those who embrace their Despair and inflict it upon others are strong. They are the ones who are best suited for a Stand. Even you, cowardly and weak, can sustain a Stand through that Dark Will. Let me show you."  
  
Her size belied her speed.  
  
Yoshihiro didn't even have a moment to blink when the Arrow sank right into his chest. He reached out for something, anything, and ended up just inches from the camera he put on his bed. He failed to reach it and stumbled to the floor.  
  
And yet...he was not dying. In fact, he could feel the power inside him welling up! His mouth opened involuntarily and he took in a deep breath and it was as if he was a young man again! No, this was beyond this abilities even at his peak! If only for a moment, he found himself back on his feet and with strength to spare!  
  
Once he locked eyes with JUDE again, however, some of that energy flickered away against the overwhelming tide of fear. She merely smirked at him.  
  
"We'll talk tomorrow morning. I wish to see just what your Stand is capable of, before you fly back to your son." JUDE said. She didn't have the slightest bit of doubt that he would meet with her again.  
  
So JUDE stood up and walked to the window, followed by her companion, and the two vanished without a trace. The only proof of their actions was the teddy-bear and bow on Yoshihiro's bed, and the Stand Arrow inside his chest.  
  
Now that his adrenaline was fading away, he felt a slight pain in his chest where the Arrow had pierced him, but the pain immediately vanished the moment the Arrow shot out from his body and landed on the floor. He still had enough strength in his bones to fight off the pain.  
  
Somehow, he knew that JUDE's words were true. That this Stand Arrow was the key to ensuring that his beloved son would be able to have a peaceful and normal life, even as he indulged in his desires. No longer would he have to cover up his son's crimes!  
  
His heart was content and he knew now that the woman he married could now rest in peace. A fine reward for the mother of his son and partner in life. He himself could now die in peace as soon as he saw his son again.  
  
For he'd just found the way to forever protect his son.  
  


\---

  
JUDE found that her league of servants and assassins were all entertaining in their own way.  
  
None of them were ever close enough to make her feel any great Despair. Honestly, it was only because of her analytical abilities that she remembered their actual names. Only a handful truly interested her enough to bring them in closer.  
  
Others were just fun to toy with. A bit like Yoshihiro- whose Stand was pretty intriguing. A shame he had to leave. Nijimura wasn't nearly as fun, being so predictable. JUDE wondered if he even managed to give those Monokumas to his sons. He might have been lying about her new calling-cards.  
  
On the bright side, she had the others. The D'Arby Brothers had been a joy to play games with. Daniel always had a good game of cards to bring the table and his playing style was magnificent. It was like nothing JUDE had seen before.  
  
Such high-level cheating! He was truly a gambler of the modern age! Dario Eydris and his cronies wouldn't have stood a chance.  
  
Against her analysis, however, he was but a toy. JUDE always enjoyed the way his face would contort into fear every time that she called him out on his cheating. His skill at cheating far outpaced his ability to stay cool under pressure. Every little facial tick told her all she needed to know about whether to call or fold.  
  
As for the younger brother, Telence offered a modern take on entertainment. He took such pride in his video games and the fact that he was undefeated. Those smarts, his strength, and his own gaming skills made him a dangerous opponent for any human. She'd probably only count the number of people who were better at video games than him on the palm of her hand.  
  
Too bad her mind was like a computer.  
  
She could predict every play he made, but also the game itself. She knew what would make her character do what and which cheats would unlock which ability and even how to exploit the glitches made by developers rushing to make the deadline. Once she had understood the mechanics of a game, it was easy as pie beating Telence.  
  
Both brothers shared such an amazing despair when defeated.  
  
Hol Horse was one of her...newer followers. J Geil apparently took to him kindly, unlike his mother who could see the coward underneath the braggart, and JUDE had to admit that she did the same. His Stand could have been so powerful and yet he was too cautious to truly use its full potential.  
  
He wanted riches so bad and yet lacked the spirit to truly seize the crown.  
  
Not that he'd get anyone other than Nena. As for Mariah, whose legs would go on for days, and Midler, whose lack of clothing was highly appreciated, both of them got to enjoy JUDE's company in a very different way. Neither of them gave her any lip about the whole head on a body thing.  
  
JUDE took those two into the room she kept for herself. Her main bedroom was the size of some people's homes, was often filled with last night's conquest and an imposing darkness and chill that made all of her servants fall to their knees even before experiencing her presence for themselves. It was the bedroom of a true vampire.  
  
But by the left wall was a hidden door that led to another, smaller room. This was the size of a normal teenage girls' room. The walls were bright pink, it was covered in light, and you would find make-up kits, dresses, little Monokumas all staring at the bed, and more than a few tools to assist with night-time fun.  
  
You'd think one of her followers would remark on this contrast. None of them did, especially not Mariah or Midler.  
  
Maybe it was her skills in pleasure. Maybe it was fear of what she could do. Maybe they knew a cute face when they saw one.  
  
It was hard being the most beautiful woman in an organisation like this.  
  
One time, Enya had actually shown JUDE pictures when she'd been a young woman. The contrast between the tall and supple figure and the midget beside her had been enough to bring JUDE despair all in itself. Had that been the hag's goal?  
  
 _If she thought I was gonna have sex with her for despair...no._ JUDE would have felt despair in the same way that letting herself lose a game on purpose might have made her feel that way. Not enough to justify the feeling.  
  
The only other person she'd want to do it less with was Arabia Fats.  
  
He took so much pride in his Stand, Sun, that JUDE decided to wait until the right moment to reveal its countless weaknesses. Not least that he was its user. But...she did enjoy having an actual ball of light to bask under.  
  
Alessi and Steely Dan's souls were completely rotten to the core. Petty and evil men who would hurt those weaker than them and no one else. Even someone with the slightest backbone and strength would have sent them scurrying, if it weren't for their Stands. Just the kind of men JUDE wanted.  
  
There were also the gimmicks. Those JUDE chose because they amused here and nothing more. Anubis, Forever (an actual goddamn orangutan with a Stand), and ZZ's weird as shit body.  
  
The Oingo Boingo Brothers were a decent laugh too.  
  
But N'Doul and Vanilla Ice; her two pride and joys. The blind man who could nevertheless read the evil in his soul and JUDE's and find common ground. For so long, he'd been searching for one with the power to change this world and suit his desire to make others suffer. Her energy and enthusiasm somehow went well with his calm nature.  
  
Vanilla Ice was loyal to her in every single way. Enya, Pet Shop, N'Doul, and Martha were the only ones of her followers who matched him in such dedication for its own sake. She knew he was loyal in a way the likes of the D'Arbys, Steely Dan, Hol Horse, and nearly all the others weren't. He was a man who would follow her to very ends of the earth.  
  
Such a lonely soul; such an evil soul. It gave JUDE ideas for him.  
  
That wasn't to say she didn't also use the rest of her followers for games. The little whispers to Oingo about burdens, Boingo about the children who grew up to be villains, Mariah and Midler subtly being told of the others' superiority where they were deficient.  
  
None of them were allowed to know where they stood either. One minute, she would have a favourite, and the next she would be screaming for their head and only sparing them because it'd be boring to kill them. She made them bask in her power.  
  
She made them see the abyss of her despair and mocked them when they blinked.  
  
Yes...they would all make good sacrifices when the time came.  
  


\---

  
JUDE knew The World was not her Stand.  
  
It had her features. The crown of one who was descended from Gods and destined to rule this world, the diving equipment, the white and black colouring, the Monokuma faces, and its red eye. No one could see its smile or hear its laugh and think it had anything to do with JoJo.  
  
But JUDE knew it.  
  
Her body was not her own. With JoJo's Ripple back at Windknight's Lot, her original body was lost to her and would never grow back. When she took away JoJo's body, it became for all intents and purposes her own body. When she was wounded anywhere but the head, it would be a piece of JoJo that would return.  
  
A Stand so bulky and filled with that kind of raw fighting power was not JUDE. She only had that strength because of the Stone Mask. No...JoJo was the one best suited to that kind of power and speed in himself.  
  
If Stands were a manifestation of the soul, its brute force resembled JoJo more than JUDE.  
  
But that wasn't it.  
  
The World's fists could shatter diamonds and moved at light-speed. JUDE had once attempted to calculate its movements with her analysis and came out of it with the biggest smile on her face.  
  
If it was only fast and strong, however, then it would have made JUDE despair to have such a Stand that could only hit good. It would have been like having Martha for a Stand.  
  
 _Is that what my Stand could have looked like? Would the Stand of Judith Eydris have been Martha Cutler in a different colour-scheme?_ JUDE tried not to think about her ugly and stupid sister. She was a part of the past and not worth remembering that much.  
  
Yet sometimes she did.  
  
Going back to The World, she noticed how certain powers of her became much easier to use again than others.  
  
JoJo's soul was in the afterlife, but there were trace remnants of his will. It must have been why JUDE's body protested and fought whenever she tried to use her vampiric powers such as the Body Freezing Technique or the Space Ripper Stingy Eyes. The humanity she had taken into herself would rather tear her body apart than accept the curse of the Stone Mask.  
  
The flesh-buds, however, survived. JUDE could still create vines from her own body and use them to bring others into despair or to bring them under her will. Stranger still was that it did not feel like her vampire powers. It felt like something different and somehow also familiar.  
  
It felt like a Stand.  
  
She could sometimes divine maps and locations through mediums. That too felt like the power of a Stand.  
  
There was also a healing power of hers that she could give to others, but that in itself was boring to her and she rarely used it. Its power was already feeble and she didn't see why she should bother making it tougher. What was the point of spreading despair if you could just fix the physical damage?  
  
 _That's just an excuse. We know the real reason why we're sticking with the good stuff for The World. Why we're going brute-force._ JUDE giggled to herself from the confines of her bedroom.  
  
Yes, she knew exactly why.  
  
The same reason she would admire herself in the mirror every chance she took. The same reason that she ignored the potential of the other powers and instead tried to have The World be stronger and faster. The same reason that she always tried to have her shirt off when committing her murders and stealing the blood from innocents.  
  
Speed and power defined the two people closest to her heart. It was the power she now held that came from their unwilling sacrifices.  
  
For Martha, JUDE was cannibalising her elder's sisters role in the Despair Sisters. It began with the Stone Mask, but now JUDE didn't even need someone else with comparable strength to her. The World was Martha's total and absolute replacement in ability and loyalty. She had surpassed her sister in every way.  
  
She didn't need her anymore.  
  
For JoJo, it was a constant reminder of what he took from her, and what she took from him. His body he worked so hard to make fight for humanity was now used for petty sins and great disasters. The foundation of JUDE's vision would be built upon his body and his Stand.  
  
She didn't need him anymore.  
  
JUDE had devoured her siblings and become something greater. She had no more need of the remnants of JoJo's power when she had The World. She would pursue its path of strength and use it to conquer this world! She would ascend into Heaven and tear it all down!  
  
The World may have been JoJo's, but now it was a tool for JUDE's Despair.  
  


\---

  
Polnareff's Stand was powerful. Even before he had accelerated the pace and strength of his training, it was powerful enough to slice through just about anything in the blink of an eye.  
  
And yet he still could not save Sherry.  
  
All that talent and skill he thought he had during those days and it might as well have been trash.  
  
How? How could he have been so weak that his beloved sister had been raped and murdered by some monster with two right hands? How could he have ever had pride in his Stand when it couldn't save those he cared about?!  
  
He had carried that self-hatred within him as he trained himself and his Stand without rest. There were days his bones would ache and his body would yearn for rest and he'd push on regardless.  
  
How could he simply lay down and rest? Was Sherry allowed even the slightest of kindness before her death? No, no she was not. That was why he refused to treat himself.  
  
As he searched the globe for the monster who shamed and murdered his sister, he could not stop the weight on his soul from pulling him downwards. He could not stop the lingering doubts about his ability, or his guilt, to die down. He grew relentless and this blinded him.  
  
Then he met JUDE.  
  
He found her on the streets of Cairo whilst he was chasing up another lead. When he had only seen her face, the falcon on her shoulder, and those twin-tails, he presumed she was another tourist of considerable height and gave her a few compliments. It was a way of charming a lady and to also calm his mind.  
  
Yet, when she stood, it was not a woman's body. It was the body of a man of considerable muscle and strength! She must have been 195cm in height and yet certainly that body could not be hers! Not when she had that prominent scar around her neck!  
  
She gave him a coy smile and led him down an alleyway. She had told him she had a way to help in on his journey and to discover what he needed.  
  
What he found was a crystal ball and JUDE herself placing her hand over it. Along her hand were purple vines, but Polnareff's attention had been entirely focused on the jar holding dust of some kind that emitted a strange smoke. It did not waft in the air, but instead flowed into the crystal ball!  
  
He saw a constellation of stars shine bright, only to then be clouded by the smoke, only for that very smoke to take the shape of that pattern! That pattern of lights began to grow and take on a shape much like a human's!  
  
Only Polnareff would never consider the bastard who murdered his sister to be human.  
  
"So this is the man who plagues your heart and haunts you by the day?" JUDE had asked. She smirked. "The source of your Despair?"  
  
"How did-"  
  
"This is a power I use rarely. Be grateful. Because I am only showing you a reflection of the despair in your heart; of what gnaws at your soul." JUDE replied. It was strange, but her voice had entirely changed! It was like he was suddenly speaking to a queen! "But that is only part of the truth. I am need of a friend to help me do my work, but I cannot go into the sun. But you! You can still go out and help me!"  
  
Her voice turned manic and she threw her hands out as if to embrace him, "So come on! Be my friend and listen to what I have to say! I'll make it worth your while. I will find the man who took away the one you loved and give you the chance to take revenge! How about it?! How about letting the despair swallow you whole?! It's not like you have any real hope left!"  
  
Her hair sparkled for a moment and Polnareff swore he had seen some kind of vine with a pierced-end fly towards him. He swore he had screamed and tried to run, but could not escape in time. That his world was nothing but fear and regret for all the mistakes he made that led to him meeting this monster.  
  
But that was ridiculous. For JUDE was his friend.  
  
She was the one who listened to his story and told him the truth about who he should have taken his anger out on. That there was more than one culprit.  
  
His sister was innocent and kind and he failed her. He was the second culprit- a truth he had tried to hide from.  
  
But what about her friend who survived? Yes, she told the tale, but she had lived! She had dared to survive and run while Sherry was made into that man's toy! Could she not have done something?! Could she not have intervened?!  
  
Even so, at least she tried to tell the truth! What of the policemen who ignored her? Polnareff had discovered that Sherry had only been the latest of the murderer's victims and yet the police could not be bothered to do anything? Did the life of an innocent woman mean so little to them?!  
  
And what of the town they had lived in? They mourned Sherry and gave Polnareff their consolations and then moved on with their lives. It was simply a tragedy to be forgotten and only occasionally remembered! Was that what Sherry died for? So that she could be a sad story?!  
  
This world that dared put convenience and itself over his sister. Did none of them understand the evil of what happened on that day?!  
  
" _I_ know how you feel, Jean Pierre Polnareff." JUDE had said. Her face softened to that of a child's and she spoke with a coo. "My big sister always did her best to take care of me. If anyone tried to hurt me, why, she would fight the whole world! She'd burn the whole world because of the love she held for me! Isn't that the kind of love you should have for her? Otherwise, aren't you just spitting on her grave? Aren't you just letting yourself off for failing her?"  
  
No. No, Polnareff would never allow himself to fail. Neither as a man nor as a brother! He would never allow himself to fail Sherry again!  
  
So he would follow JUDE's commands and be her agent of chaos and despair. He would make the whole world fall into it.  
  
His little sister spent her final moments in despair.  
  
Polnareff would make sure everyone who had failed her would suffer the same.

 

\---

 

JUDE began a search; a search for the Stand users she noticed before and for new ones. Some to recruit by her side, some to just put into a catalogue within her mind, and some to...well, give The World a test with.   
  
When she returned to Cairo, she scoured souls that were open to corruption and could have their desires be used against them. To know their very hopes and dreams and fears and doubts. That way, she could begin turning them towards Despair and all that it entailed.  
  
She searched for those with Stands for her to use in the oncoming battles. If they did well, then they'd be rewarded with affection and pride.  
  
After which they would be sacrificed for her vision.  
  
The baby was a newer agent of hers and proved to be one of her favourites. To die in a dream that became a chilling nightmare at the hands of the one person no one would ever expect? If only she could adopt it for her own!  
  
But that was simply one of her chosen few. The fortune-teller was even more interesting for the exact opposite reason.  
  
On July 1988, she had finally found him. She waited outside the man's shop for when Mohammad Avdol would come walking up the steps and towards his home/business to rest for the night. He'd made an honest earning with his predictions- he had the same kind of talent as Enya did and it served him well.  
  
Under the light of the full moon, she had greeted the man with a cruel smile and a presence that froze him to his feet. His eyes bulged with horror as he recognised the description that Joseph Joestar had given him. The warnings of this woman's charisma and charm, along with the endless evil that hid underneath that beauty. Her need for all of mankind to wallow in misery so she could experience happiness.  
  
And now it was Avdol's turn to have something of his be demanded as tribute to her.  
  
For JUDE, it was his Stand Magician's Red. The power to manipulate flames and to the extent that he could shape them? Such a Stand held immeasurable power and potential in the right hands! Just thinking of the despair made JUDE ecstatic!  
  
Yet, Avdol was smart and quick on his feet. He knew of the threats behind that calming voice. He could see the swirling madness in those bright-blue eyes that reeled any man in. He was also willing to do what was needed to escape.  
  
JUDE didn't chase him down. He was too quick to go through the window and run and the sport of it was gone. Pet Shop might have caught him, but a battle between fire and ice would have only ended in one way. She may have the taste later, but she wasn't in the mood for Cairo Fried Falcon just yet. JUDE was open to despair, but Pet Shop dying would have been disappointing.  
  
Besides, she had decided that it'd be little fun to corrupt him.  
  
Not like with Noriaki Kakyoin.  
  
The month after Avdol had escaped her grasp, so much had changed for JUDE. Her World had shifted immeasurably in power and reach and she was bursting at the seams to take it to even further heights! She could finally see how the reality she desired could come to be!  
  
August 1988 was when she went for her next target.  
  
His parents bored her and thus she knocked them out. But Kakyoin was different.  
  
She could see his loneliness. She was engulfed by the sense the isolation he pretended to be fine with, even when it meant his own parents didn't understand him. She could even feel his yearning for something to change. For someone else to see his Stand and truly understand him.  
  
JUDE used his fear and awe to try and coax him over to her. She offered friendship and warmth if only he would submit to her will. The weakness in his heart and soul gave her a decent chance.  
  
But Kakyoin was not as weak as she presumed! There was a part of him that knew evil when he saw it and tried to fight! His Hierophant Green was ready to fight.  
  
Only for JUDE to emerge behind him without warning and make her move.  
  
The flesh-buds could induce total control over the victims. She could have had those be the source of the total loyalty from the initially less willing of her recruits. What was a bit less fighting ability compared to that? It'd hardly be enough to change anything. JUDE, however, would never go for something so easy and dull.  
  
She was fine with them just being pliable.  
  
It made it easier for her to talk to them. For JUDE to feed poison into Kakyoin's ears about how it was the world that was flawed and wrong instead of him. That it was better to make those who he felt excluded from suffer than to dwell on his isolation. That he was greater than them and thus had the right to do whatever he wished to those fools who could not see his Stand.  
  
Kakyoin was totally loyal to her. He would make for a fine puppet for the plans she had for him. He'd go back to Japan and be ready for anything, letting his despair build up until it corroded through his body and burst across anyone unlucky enough to be close to him.  
  
His parents didn't even notice a change.  
  
It didn't even matter if something happened to the flesh bud and it somehow didn't kill him. Kakyoin and his Stand were now property of JUDE's and ready for her commands.  
  
For she knew he believed no one would ever understand him. That no one would ever risk themselves for him.  
  
That he only had JUDE to call friend.


	11. With A Little Help From My Friends

**Arc Two: The World Under Hell**

 

****Chapter Nine: With A Little Help From My Friends** **

 

 

\---

 

The power to stop time was discovered by accident.

 

Nukesaku was a pitiful creature. He was so weak and foolish that it was the one time that a minion she chose had somehow turned any despair into disappointment. All he was good for was cleaning up messes and he couldn't even do that right.

 

So it would have been absolute Despair if he even harmed a hair on her skin with that shotgun. If the test she set up for herself would backfire and the vampire who survived Ripple was slain by some pathetic tool of hers. Just to imagine the humiliation from this instinct backfiring on her.

 

And yet JUDE had sensed it. That point when everything stopped for not even a second.

 

Martha had once told her that sometimes she felt as if seconds were minutes in a fight. Her instincts were so well-honed that by simply being in the heat of a battle, she could move faster and strike harder than ever before. A part of JUDE wondered if it was that very sensation.

 

But then how could The World move and grab at the pellets?! How was it that JUDE, to all others, had been standing in one spot for a second and then moved the next? She who would have embraced the pellets if The World hadn't been fast enough had dodged them?

 

No. It was that she had discovered a new power.

 

Enya had been right. She gained this power by testing The World's speed and strength and only by continuing to use it and adjusting her mind could she expand it. She had to believe it only natural that a woman like herself, whose mind was above all others and who was more Despair than human, could move where no other could.

 

That she had conquered that which all humanity feared deep down; the passage of time.

 

The World's powers were continually growing. JUDE knew that JoJo's body and spirit had been the source of not only The World's physique, but also its powers, and yet she did not feel ashamed or embarrassed to use it. It was her big brother's gift to her, after all.

 

But she needed more. There had to be more fuel for her to use to go further and expand on the abilities of The World. There had to be a way to break the ceiling on her time-stopping powers!

 

It meant that she would need to take more from JoJo.

 

Yet she had already taken his body, blood, and Stand! What else was there for her?!

 

What else was there for her but the blood of those descended from JoJo? The blood of those who had not only inherited JoJo's blood but also his passion and spirit!

 

A Stand only needed a strong soul to keep it from betraying its user.

 

That meant a belief in one's self; the will to fight for themselves; the desire for something that compelled the spirit to fight on; and, most importantly, the ability and will to take the life of another. Without these, a Stand would certainly devour them whole.

 

JUDE had once believed that she no longer needed to associate herself with the Joestars. Why cut off her ties to the past when they had seemingly been cut off already? Yet now it was clear that she'd been completely wrong.

 

The World's growth made it easier to sense that these powers were coming from not only JoJo, but other Joestars. That there were those with potential who were feeding her own.

 

It seemed as if the Joestars hadn't neglected JoJo's legacy.

 

JUDE needed to bring those who carried that kind of power to her. She needed to not only cull the weak, to save time, but also inspire the strong to grow stronger and to challenge her directly! To be ready to fight her to the death with all their might!

 

Only then would their blood carry the energy needed to elevate her time-stop to the highest possible peaks.

 

It was a funny thing. The World could take powers from those of the Joestar bloodline...but who said it couldn't also give it back? Who said it couldn't force the growth of a Stand.

 

All across the world, the descendants of Jonathan Joestar would soon notice that their lives had taken a bizarre turn. That they could suddenly accomplish deeds unimaginable before or that they were haunted by a strange spirit. That they were no longer the ordinary people they were before.

 

And others would notice the start of a disease that would consume them entirely and kill them.

 

And so began a new chapter! The battle between JUDE, the vampire seeking to change the world in her image, and the Joestar family, whose determination remains as strong as ever, as they fight to save their loved ones and the world!

 

But first, the interlude must end with something else.

 

It began during JUDE's time wandering the earth and building her organisation, but would end in the midst of the Stardust Crusaders' journey to put an end to JUDE's Despair.

 

This was the tale of JUDE and Enrico Pucci.

 

\---

 

Had it been a simple mistake in checking the time that brought her here?

 

JUDE felt a familiar pull and recognised the accursed lure of gravity. The force that decided her path for her and ensured success in her deeds. For a woman whose lifeblood was in Despair, it was a terrible thing to be burdened with.

 

She had been searching for Stand users to recruit her cause and for some reason had lingered in this church.

 

The strings of fate had yet again yanked her towards the path of her goal. Yet again, everything was going according to her desires.

 

As an act of rebellion, JUDE had chosen to wait under one of the tables in this church until dawn came. Her feet were defiantly out for anyone to find, but she was not going to be caught because she wished it. She would not let herself dance to the tune.

 

Unfortunately, one thing that was fated, no matter what JUDE did, was the spark of despair she felt when someone tripped over her. He stumbled to the ground, dropping what sounded like books and a large flashlight, and immediately tried to find the culprit.

 

"Who's there? Come out and show yourself!" The man's voice was young, but carried an air of maturity with it. JUDE guessed he was around fifteen years old.

 

JUDE moved quickly and her feet disappeared from their prior location. Instead, she crouched by where the books had dropped and searched for anything interesting. There was the Bible, some books on interpreting stories in the Bible and- oh hello.

 

"The tale of a clergyman who commits adultery and then runs off to be an artist." JUDE said. She looked at the boy with an amused eye. "I don't think that's on the Church Book Club list."

 

"W-Who are you? Why are you here? This place is closed until Sunday." The boy said.

 

"You'd really throw out a poor sick woman over a simple rule? What kind of Christian are you?" JUDE lifted her head to make the scar around her neck obvious. "There was an accident years ago and to cut a long story short, I'm allergic to sunlight. I can't get home in time and I really need a place to stay. Won't you let a misshapen thing like myself to stay?"

 

The wayward soul simply looked at her. His eyes were incalculable but even so JUDE knew how he would answer. He would call out her obvious lie and she would take her chance to devour him whole-

 

"Very well then. I would ask you to not trip me up in the future, but you may stay. Just make sure the father doesn't know and that you leave when the sun rises." He replied. The boy stood up and began to walk away.

 

JUDE was intrigued. The child did not act as she expected him to.

 

Had he believed her lie? Or did he think this oddity was not a danger?

 

In fact, why hadn't he commented on the difference between the head of a beautiful woman and the body of a powerful man? She doubted he was the type to simply agree whatever he was told, even if the scar stood out- no matter what her followers assured her.

 

So what was he thinking?

 

"You're quite the special one, aren't you?" JUDE asked. The boy probably didn't notice it himself, the way his back stiffened and his mood perked up.

 

"How so?" He asked in turn.

 

"You really believe such a strange story?" The vampire let herself look more threatening with a sharp grin. "What if I was a robber, planning to steal the golden candles, or what if I was a killer and you're to be my next victim? Huh? You don't think anything of my looks, but maybe I'm real good at disguises. Maybe no one would know if I ransacked this place and left your body to rot. What would you do? Or do you believe just that and are about to reveal the truth. Did you simply give me hope to strike me down into despair?"

 

"It's nothing like that." The boy replied as he merely looked at her with a turned head. "Why would a thief give such a ridiculous story? You could have said that you were having a crisis and needed to find faith. You could have simply overpowered me in a better hiding spot. Whatever your intentions right now, they were not to harm me or the church."

 

_Smart boy._ JUDE noticed the way his body was tense. As if he was indeed expecting her to do something. He had read her body language well.  _Very smart. It seems you're not as open and loving as you present._

 

JUDE tried to read him. There was a dismissive inflection in his voice that was clearly being suppressed. He must have come from a family of high-standing in the community and was used to a certain level that most he interacted with failed to reach. A repressed arrogance.

 

But he was also open. He was not lying to her. He could have simply told the head of this church for the sake of it but was not going to do so. He was going to do this random act of kindness for a stranger.

 

No doubt about it. This boy was special. Very special indeed.

 

_Could you be the one...the one who will put their ideals above all else?_ JUDE had been searching for someone to be that loyal. Not to her, but to their own vision. A desire to change the world in the opposite way to hers.

 

JUDE also noticed the limb when he walked. It wasn't a twisted ankle from tripping. No, he was far too used to moving with it to be the case. It was almost flawless. Only the most observant would have noticed it.

 

A minor birth defect then.

 

"Your foot. Did something happen to you? An accident?" She asked crawling towards it.

 

"How did you-?" The child stuttered further when she grabbed his foot. He regained his composure in an impressively quick pace. "When I was born, my left foot's toes came out twisted. It's fine since it doesn't hinder my ability to walk. Not really."

 

Those last words were key. It  _was_  a hindrance.

 

"Tell me something." JUDE reached into her pocket and pulled out the head of the Stand Arrow that she'd been carrying with her. Meanwhile, she also worked on his defect, distracting him with a simple question. "Do you believe in gravity? That you and me meeting wasn't just some coincidence like seeing a celebrity at the store?"

 

Stand users were pulled to one another. Just as gravity pulled those with similar minds and goals together, so too with those who're extraordinary. It was how JUDE found herself locating those who would be her servants and those who were recorded for information alone.

 

JUDE had a talent unlike any other human on the planet and that was her analysis. She could read and comprehend a person's actions as much as she could a book or a film.

 

She could perceive gravity. She knew the decisions others made and their likely upbringing. Nature and nurture both were the foundations of identity and choices made. It was borderline clairvoyance. She did not have the crises of humans in being unable to perceive the future.

 

She did not know the despair of uncertainty and so had to create her own to survive.

 

But in this case, it did have its uses.

 

"What are you talking about?" He asked even as his eyes were on the spinning arrowhead.

 

With but a grip of her fingers, the Arrow came to a stop. "I'm actually kinda grateful for you believing my story about sunlight. It's been so long since I found a soul as pure as yours. Take this Arrow. Do what you want with it, but I'll tell you this," JUDE's face darkened and the world became only her and him. "I've been having a lot of meetings. All over this world, I have done things to see if the result I desire would happen. You can ignore our meeting, but when the time comes that you want to know the truth about gravity, fate, hope, despair, and heaven, relay your feelings into the Arrow. Gravity will pull us together after that."

 

JUDE slipped back and let the darkness consume her. She slowly moved from the child's sight.

 

"I'll leave when the sun sets, don't worry."

 

With those final words, she vanished from his sight and let him alone. Yet she did not leave the room. She hid and waited to see his reaction when he noticed what she had done for him.

 

"My foot! My toes! They're straight!" He cried out. He turned back to the shadow and found nothing, only to desperately look around for any trace of her. "Wait? Who are you? What are you? I don't understand?!"

 

_But you will, child of god. You will._ JUDE smiled to herself. For the first time in nearly a century now, it was one without malice.  _Oh JoJo, I think I just found your replacement. The one who will fight me at the end of days for the right to decide the fate of this world. The battle between Hope and Despair can continue without you._

 

\---

 

Enrico Pucci sat on the chair and waited for her to speak.

 

The Arrow had told him where to go. After he sent Weather to Green Dolphin Prison, he boarded the next plane to Cairo and made his way to JUDE's home. It was an imposing mansion guarded by her servants and the falcon that feasted on an alley-cat. Of thinly-dressed men who glowered at him and a blind man who smiled as if he could see what would happen next. The crone who cackled to herself as if she knew the punchline of a dark joke that would only bring misery to him.

 

And yet the doors had been open for him.

 

He had thought he would be walking into the home of an enigmatic but ultimately trustworthy companion and teacher. Someone who would comfort him and tell him of gravity and fate and the reason why people met.

 

What he found instead was a celebration of madness.

 

He saw two brothers cowering in their seats, as if afraid that their master would call on them, and whispered to each other assurances of protection. He saw corpses left in the hallways with bitemarks on their necks and horror in their eyes. He saw men and women with cruel smiles greet him as if they knew what he'd been through and loved his suffering.

 

JUDE's bedroom was dark and suffocating. At the centre of the room was JUDE herself. She towered before him even as she sat and had the appearance of some dark queen of hell. With a flick of the wrist, she dismissed the brothers and they flew out from the room, the taller man holding onto the child for dear life. Pucci almost regretted his decision.

 

But like it or not, she had the answers he sought.

 

"So, Enrico Pucci." She lounged into her chair and extended her arms out in a false embrace. "You've come to my embrace and to discover the world that humans are but pieces of. Why now?"

 

"Do you not know? Did you not sense my feelings into that Arrow?" Pucci asked speaking through his suffering. JUDE snorted and pointed a finger at him.

 

"I want to hear it from you. I want to hear what great tragedy you've experienced and how your sins caused it to come about."

 

"It wasn't my fault!" He snapped. Only the memories came back and he put his hands to his face. "But it was my fault...if I hadn't heard that confession...but if-"

 

"Start from the beginning." JUDE commanded.

 

"Why..." Pucci held his head for what seemed like forever. Then he looked up at JUDE and faced her with the tears running freely. "Why did that woman take Weather instead of me? Why was it me who heard her confession? Why did Pearla and Weather have to meet? Why did they have to fall in love? Why did I go that particular detective? Why did Pearla's love have to be a sin? Why did I become a priest?"

 

He should not have shown weakness. Yet he still looked upon her with his sorrow and pain open to her.

 

"Why is it that I must feel this despair? Why must there be these tragedies? Why do people meet?" He asked. It was a demand for her to explain herself.

 

Because the answer of that question was where the truth of the driving force of the world laid. The ultimate truth that contained the tools to ending his suffering. If he just learnt that very truth, he would be free of his despair and could hope in the power to ascend his tragedy.

 

If he learnt how to anticipate and predict fate, then surely he would be able to face it with resolve. For his uncertainty would vanish and be replaced by knowledge. His heart would be free of doubts and fear for what he had done and what could happen.

 

However, that meant he would have to spend time with JUDE.

 

He could see her feeding off his despair like a leech to blood. Her eyes widened, her breathing had quickened, and she was practically licking her lips from the taste of his pain. She reminded him of those junkies when they had taken their poison; completely and utterly content in the momentary high, only to later search for more.

 

It felt as if he was Dante, exploring the very depths of hell, and this woman was somehow Virgil and the Devil as one.

 

"I know that you are evil incarnate. I know that you have plans to bring despair to the world. I know that I will have to use Whitesnake to stop you...but you have it, don't you?" Pucci leaned in from his seat. Whitesnake manifested behind him and growled. "You know the answer to my questions and the way to master fate."

 

"I'll tell you the answer in time. But you'll have to do something for me." JUDE replied. She rested her head on a closed fist. "Simply spend time with me over these next few months and listen to what I have to say. I'll do the same for you. After that, you can do whatever you wish with that knowledge, but only after you complete one last request, and wait until an event has passed."

 

"What do you want from me? What is this request you have of me?" Pucci asked. Was this where she demanded his soul or for him to commit some awful sin in her name?

 

"I want you to baptise me." She replied.

 

Pucci was frozen in place.

 

Baptism was sacred to his faith. For the newly-born, it was to welcome them into the arms of God and into the faith itself. For those who were adults and had not been before, it was an opportunity to wash away the sins of the past, and to redeem themselves under God's light, if they truly wished it so.

 

Some in Pucci's faith argued that baptism itself was essential to reach Heaven. That it was what marked them as a follower of Jesus. Others said that it was an act of redemption in itself to renounce evil and take God into their heart.

 

JUDE? JUDE did not regret. JUDE did not have faith. If there was a God in her eyes, she herself was that God.

 

Pucci's faith was screaming at him to refuse her. He could not defile the ceremony of baptism with such a corrupt soul that wished to continue sinning. Even if he was not qualified to give it, he knew in his heart that it made no difference.

 

Perhaps that was her aim. She wished to break him by making him spit upon his beliefs all for the answer she'd give him. The answer she could lie about and render it all for nothing.

 

But the chances of her speaking the truth...the chances of her answering the questions that plagued him. If she was telling the truth, it would confirm his suspicions and let him begin his work in creating a world where his tragedy would never happen again.

 

He would create a world without pain or despair.

 

In other words, he would create Heaven.

 

God would understand. God had permitted worse in his name or to be unpunished in the material world. So too would he understand the sacrifice Pucci was making.

 

"And what of this event you wish to have pass?" Pucci refused to say it out loud, but they both knew he had agreed.

 

"The baptism comes before it." JUDE said. She seemed serious about that condition. "I'm tying up loose ends. The final chains that hold me to my humanity have to be destroyed. When I have killed them, I will be nothing but Despair. I will then begin my plan. Unless you stop me."

 

"Why shouldn't I just join them?" Pucci was beginning to consider any enemy of JUDE and her Despair to be a friend.

 

"Because I know you." JUDE's smile was concentrated evil and mockery. "I have a particular talent that helps read people. I know from the second you walked in that you'd accept my offer. Because you want to know it. You want to know if Fate is real. If humanity is truly ruled by nothing more than the gravity that pulls us together and the nature of our souls that bring us closer or drives us apart. You want to know and I'm the only one who can answer it."

 

Pucci knew the choice before him. He could leave now and live with his sins and doubts. He could fight with her using his Whitesnake and pray she both wished to fight him alone and that he could defeat her. Either way, if he even survived, he would never actually learn that which he could not live without.

 

If he stayed, however, he would be supping with temptation and evil. JUDE would likely attempt to bring him over to her side in mind, body, and soul. She could even try to stain his hands with her dirty work. There was no certainty in that he would come out and not be a servant to her.

 

And yet, that very risk was infinitely preferable to leaving here without his answers. If he did so, then he would never be able to understand why Pearla and Weather had to meet.

 

He would never understand gravity.

 

"I will baptise you at the time of your choosing, but only after you tell me what I need to know." Pucci said. If he was to be used for this woman's entertainment, then he would use her to discover the path to the power to change the world. "Starting with the question; was what happened to myself, Pearla, and Weather the result of Fate? Are we simply driven by gravity?"

 

JUDE chuckled deeply and leaned in close. He resisted the urge to step closer and strike her down. Instead, he stood aloof and strained his ears to hear her and begin his journey towards discovering the truth of the world.

 

"Fate is real, Pucci." JUDE said. "And I plan on destroying it and leaving humanity in total despair."

 

Pucci would never forget the look on her face, nor the terror it inspired in him down to the deepest parts of his soul.

 

No matter what, he had to stop her dream from coming true.

 

He had to ensure that Heaven was reached by someone worthy.

 

He had to ensure that Heaven was reached by himself.

 

\---

 

It had been a month since Pucci chose to dance with the devil.

 

He had expected her to make him watch her bring misery and pain to countless innocents. He had expected her to offer him the apple from the Garden of Eden and try to tempt him from God. He had expected her to make big and loud and elaborate displays of power and cruelty.

 

He did not expect her to be working on a model of a ship-sinking. So much of her focus was dedicated to getting every little detail right, down to making the tiny people-figurines into almost life-like creations, that he was amazed that she could hold a conversation. Let alone one of such deep thought.

 

The weakest Stand she had ever seen.

 

Survivor was JUDE's eventual choice. The Stand that could never be used in any organisation for it could not decipher between friend or foe. A Stand that could do nothing more than make people fight against one another.

 

And yet, she did not speak of it mockingly or with loathing. She had tried to use sophistry to avoid answering the question, but even when pinned down she made excuses for it.

 

Pucci had to learn more. He could tell that this would open the path to learning more about her.

 

And thus learning more on how to kill her.

 

"You still seem to admire it." Pucci said.

 

"Why wouldn't I?" JUDE asked. "Friend or foe, none of that matters. Once you're hit by it, all you see is red and the desire to beat everyone around you to death. Imagine being with a group of companions and being hit by it? You survive and wake up, only to find that you've murdered all your friends?"

 

A long toothy smile curled upwards and enveloped much of her face.

 

"What I wouldn't give to see that."

 

The sheer pleasure in that voice still troubled Pucci.

 

He did not know if the likes of Enya and Vanilla Ice noticed it or not. Maybe they saw their desires in JUDE and ignored it, or they simply believed she was joking, but Pucci noticed it.

 

JUDE's love for despair was all-encompassing.

 

She did not just wish to bring despair to her enemies and victims. That'd be easy for her. What she wanted to do as well was to bring despair to those close to us. To those dearest to her, including herself, for one sole reason.

 

Despair against herself was considered an equally fine vintage as inflicting despair onto others.

 

It was a motive near-impossible to comprehend for those with stable minds.

 

_Was she born with a cursed soul? Or is this simply the price of ending her humanity?_ Pucci had been told little. The most that he knew was that JUDE was perceptive and yearned for despair. Both to feel for herself and to give to others.

 

So she had always been this way. Even when she had a soul, she sold it for pleasure

 

"JUDE, I have a question." Pucci said. JUDE regarded him with a single glance. "If your talent is so expansive, and what you say about Fate is true, then answer me. If that woman had taken me, instead of Weather, the same tragedy would have played out, would it have ch-"

 

"No." JUDE cut him off. She continued working on her model. "At most, it would have been similar, but that's a long shot. From what you've told me about him and Pearla, there's no way things would have turned out the way they did. The tragedy you experienced would not have happened to Weather."

 

"You sound so sure. But we would have been brought up the same and were babies when taken. We were blank slates. As twins, surely our souls were alike."

 

"Pucci, no two people are completely alike." JUDE had a wistful smile on her face and her tone softened. Pucci sensed no lie in her voice or facial motions. It was strange. She almost seemed...peaceful. JUDE held up one of the pieces and looked at it gently. "No one is the same. Not even twins, no matter how much they want it to be. Your not the first to make that mistake. Martha thought the same as you."

 

He raised an eyebrow at that. JUDE had never mentioned this 'Martha' before and yet there was something in her voice when saying it.

 

"Martha was my older sister. We were twins and completely inseparable and still so different. I was always the pretty and smart one while Martha was the strong and quiet one." JUDE sighed to herself. "Everyone acted like we were two halves of a greater whole. Only all eyes fell on me. I guess Martha decided I was worth more, since she always gave me what I wanted. Even when I yearned for a despair she couldn't understand. A despair I thought she too had understood."

 

Pucci was denied even a moment of understanding. He saw JUDE's frown, a true one rather than the exaggerated displays she often showed when switching personalities, and knew what she had done.

 

"You killed her, didn't you?" He asked as if he didn't already know the answer.

 

"Yes...I killed her." JUDE turned to face him. Her eyes were tired and her voice lacked its usual violence. "She who would protect me from the dangers of Ogre Street. She who held me during the cold nights. She who tried to be the best sister she ever could be, for a blood-thirsty lecher who fucked her own sister."

 

Despite it being obvious, for of course JUDE would break even that taboo, Pucci's eyes widened in shock.

 

Incest?! The very sin he had tried to save Pearla and Weather from, for he knew the realisation would kill them, had been committed by the woman in front of him? Had she heard his story and imagined it for herself? Had she and her sister been in love?

 

_But wait._ Pucci thought to himself.  _Her language...such insults against her sister. Is that what you would give to someone you loved? Maybe this was the beginning. Maybe JUDE was-_

 

"It wasn't rape." JUDE spoke with more force than he ever heard her speak with. It was genuine offence. "She'd never do it. Not even pretend. I asked her once to do it. We were sixteen, JoJo and his Dad were gone, and the servants were bare-bone. Martha could go into my room and hold me down and whisper harshly how I should treat her with respect. I begged and pleaded as she tore off my clothes. I was in my bra and panties and she slapped me so hard I swore she knocked out a tooth. When I was fully naked, and she was about to go to work, I wept and asked why she was hurting me.

 

JUDE grimaced, as if recalling a bad taste in her mouth. "She stopped and begged forgiveness. She never meant to hurt me. She just wanted to do what I asked and she'd never do it again if I didn't want her to." She looked away from him. "So I slapped her, said she ruined the mood, and threw her out on her arse."

 

Just hearing it was sickening. Martha seemed to be yet another victim of JUDE's manipulations and lust for Despair.

 

"Why? Why is it that you go to such lengths to cause sin and suffering?" Pucci asked. Just what was it that made this woman so desperate to do harm?

 

JUDE grinned without joy. "Because, without Despair, I am without Hope."

 

Pucci remembered her telling him about the extent of her talent.

 

When she was but a child, she could analyse everything to near-perfection. It had meant she was able to perceive everything and thus appreciate nothing. The meaning of life was lost to her as she searched for a way to escape her despair.

 

To be constantly proven right was like winning a game where all the other players were far below your skill level. To read a book a thousand times over before anyone even finished the first page. The boredom must have been immeasurable.

 

But he refused to pity her. Not when she chose the coward's escape. Not when she had a life of warmth, wealth, and comfort and threw it all away for the sake of despair.

 

"You are strong in everything but the soul and mind." Pucci couldn't stop himself. The words came out before he could close his mouth. "You bring suffering to alleviate your own. You become bored and search for greater highs, but seem incapable of realising how hollow your work is. You're nothing more than a child intrigued by how things burn or how a fly will act with its wings plucked-off. You claim to be Despair, but you simply just embrace what pains you because it's easier than to face it head-on."

 

JUDE laughed at that. It was the first time she actually seemed amused at something. She tilted her head towards him.

 

"So I should have simply just accepted my hand and lived a life of boredom? All work and no play makes JUDE a sad girl." JUDE returned to her many personalities. She chose the childish one, only now she had an over-the-top frown and folded her arms together. "So mean!"

 

"Have you truly never once been surprised in your life? Is your analysis so talented that it borders on God's omniscience?" Pucci asked. Was she so certain of her predictions that she had never been surprised.

 

Was it so easy for her to perceive the strings of fate? To have that which Pucci desired above all else?

 

JUDE paused and her face was blank. "It was the night after we had to sell our mother's dress." She said. "Dario Eydris had all his buddies around for a game of cards. I got bored of his plan of cheating at it a while back, so we were told to scram, but I stayed by the door while Martha kept look-out. I could hear ever word, slur, and drunken rambling there was. I could hear things even Martha couldn't. I heard an offer for a bag of gold to fuck me.

 

"I thought my dad would do it. He always wanted cash for gold and he never once showed a damn for us. I was about to call for Martha," JUDE stopped and Pucci swore there was a flash of confusion in her eyes. "But then Dario smashed his bottle against the guy's face and had to be stopped from killing him. He screamed at him to leave his home and never come back."

 

"So your father did love you." Pucci asked. Is that what surprised her? That her father had a trace of goodness in him?

 

"He gave us the letter to show the Joestars." JUDE leaned into her seat and looked back at the model of the sinking ship. She stared into it as if it would start moving. "Martha wasn't suited for complicated thoughts. Her world was me and nothing else mattered, until he came along. So why? Why did he do it? Why then and only then did he give a shit about our future?"

 

It was almost pitiful to see her so confused. JUDE claimed she could analyse any person unless they were buried deep in despair. Yet here she was, trying and failing to understand just what it was that made her father defend her. As if the idea of hope and not despair being unpredictable was alien.

 

Maybe it was simply her father. Maybe JUDE was simply being a child incapable of understanding their parent.

 

Such a human trait for one who discarded their humanity.

 

_It still makes no difference. She is the Devil through and through. Pathetic, however powerful and charismatic she is._ Pucci took a step towards JUDE.

 

"Don't try it."

 

He stepped back and stopped himself in time from calling on Whitesnake. Thankfully, JUDE seemed more concerned with her ranting than anything.

 

"Hope is nothing more than pre-determined harmony. The predictable desires of someone based on their genetics, choices, and upbringing. It's the kiddie-ride that never goes fast." JUDE's eyes began to swirl. The madness was returning. "But Despair? Despair is unlimited, Pucci. Break someone's dreams and conceptions and you've got a clean slate to write whatever you want on it. But what if it doesn't take? What if something else gets written?

 

"My plans always succeed and this brings me Despair," She stood up from her chair and threw her hands into the air. "But what's the point in throwing the fight? Then it's still to my plan. So I'll do what I did with JoJo. I'll throw down the gauntlet and fight my hardest! I'll wage war on this world and wait for those champions of Hope to come again. Ah, for my Despair to be extinguished by Hope again...I could just die!"

 

"It doesn't even matter if you succeed?" Pucci asked. Was there truly no point in all that she had done?

 

"Pucci, if Heaven is a world of happiness where people live in stability and knowledge of their fate," JUDE threw her hands back to herself and hugged her body tightly. "Then I seek a world where no one has control and are simply pulled along by the winds of despair! A world where nothing and no one can be predicted!"

 

Pucci's gritted his teeth and kept a grip on his hands tight enough to make his palms bleed. He looked at JUDE with hatred and loathing suited for an enemy in every way possible. She was the ideological and physical barrier between him and a world of happiness for which he would do anything.

 

"And what I am here for?"

 

"Oh, Pucci, haven't you realised it yet?" JUDE tilted her head and mockingly clapped for him. "You're my Plan B; a dedicated Warrior of Hope."

 

With a swing of her fist, the ship model she had spent hours building to perfection shattered into little pieces across the table and floor. The table itself broke in half under the force of her blow. One of the few things intact was a rectangular box of sorts. If Pucci had longer to look, he could have sworn it looked like a coffin.

 

But before he could be sure, JUDE had already crushed it under her foot with enough force to break the floor as well.

 

That time, she actually seemed angry.

 

\---

 

JUDE wondered when the time would come for her and Pucci to battle.

 

She wondered how many of her servants would eventually fall to the Joestars. It could be the case that she'd need time to gather more despair-filled souls to prepare for the ceremony. There'd have to be a devotee dedicated to her and her alone.

 

Vanilla Ice fit the bill, but maybe she would need wait for one of her children to fully grow. Then she could arrange the battle.

 

It was no good having someone dedicated to stopping her if there wasn't someone equally dedicated to helping her. She'd need something to do, if the Joestars were exterminated as planned. Assuming it would be her against Pucci.

 

That fact that she had doubt was why she was kneeling in the middle of a large and deep body of water. The Red Sea, in fact.

 

Pucci stood by her side and was reciting some Bible passage that she guessed had a lot of back-handed insults for her. JUDE didn't know if it was to sooth his own conscience or if it was to get some moral victory but that wasn't important. Not when she had what she wanted.

 

The world did not revolve around him and nor did JUDE's. Although watching him react with horror at the realisation would be hilarious.

 

JUDE didn't give a damn about god or heaven. The baptism was just a means to an end. Pucci would fulfil his role.

 

To make sure that no one would pull her out if she panicked.

 

This would be the first time that JUDE would be submerged in water since her time under the sea. All this time, she had chosen a residence by the rivers and let the sounds of rushing water force her to sleep, and yet she had stayed away from the stuff for so long. Even showers sent a chill down her spine still! Just having the water itself pool over much of her body and the familiar salty scent go up her nose was enough to make her body shake in anticipation.

 

_I forgot how goddamn cold it was!_ It must have been why she had all these goosebumps on her skin. It was so bad that she was shivering! Breathing became difficult and a part of her wanted to just jump out from the water and run.

 

JUDE had to do this. She needed to break free from all fears from the past and remove herself from petty traumas.

 

If she was to do battle with the Joestars and any other enemies coming her way, she had to be strong. The mistress of Despair could not be a cowering victim when faced with it. She had to welcome it into her heart and show that she too loved it.

 

Pucci looked down at her and she knew the time had come.

 

"Are you ready?" Pucci asked. He was hating every minute of this, which made it all worth it. JUDE's smile was replied with a sneer. "Then let it begin."

 

The priest placed a hand on JUDE's head and pushed it down into the water without the slightest bit of warning or gentleness. He probably hoped the shock would distract her, or weaken the thrill of the despair, but he was wrong. JUDE definitely felt it.

 

She felt the water cover her entire head and body. Water blocked her airways and blinded her vision as the midnight sky above had already denied JUDE light. Under the grip of the priest, she was completely and utterly trapped under water.

 

Which was why Pucci would obviously try to strike now. She felt the hand of Whitesnake touch her head and a set of two discs emerged from that very spot. The Stand moved to pluck them from her head.

 

Time stopped.

 

JUDE felt the water around her stop and become something like breathable air. The World grabbed Whitesnake's hand and pulled it away, pushing the discs back in with its free hand, and then held both fists high above Whitesnake's head to keep it from pulling the same trick again. Pucci's little ambush had failed.

 

The third second passed and the flow of time resumed.

 

The water came rushing back as if she had briefly re-surfaced and then went crashing under the waves again. Her senses were blocked and JUDE was once again struggling under the water. Pucci's hands were tied and so he couldn't keep her under the depths. She couldn't trust him to not try that again.

 

JUDE breathed, for a vampire could not drown, and endured the pain of the water being forced down her sinuses and throat. She had to keep concentrating and fight the bodily instinct to move up. The instinct for her to escape this terrible and cold prison.

 

_Just a bit more, just a bit more._ JUDE told herself. But it was hard. She felt like she was back in that fucking coffin again. It felt like everything that had happened after that boat arrived was just a lie. That it kept sailing on and that that had finally broke her.

 

Was this all just a dream? Had she gone mad and made it all up? She wanted to leave. She wanted to break out and escape from this agony. This was too much! This was torture!

 

This Despair was enough to make her scream in delight. (And fear)

 

Then it ended. Pucci stopped fighting and so The World let go of Whitesnake. JUDE could tell, even under water and with her mind trapped in a violent civil war, that he had learnt his lesson. He reached down and gripped the back of JUDE's hair roughly and yanked her out.

 

JUDE took a deep breath. She had done it.

 

She had put herself underwater again. Her heart was racing, her lungs were aching, her brain was screaming, and every part of her body wanted to run and get away and never again go near the water. Her mind wished to run and cry and forget the tortures of the coffin.

 

It was everything she could have wanted from the experience.

 

"Did you get what you wanted?" He asked. As much as he tried to hide it, he clearly cared. He wanted to know just how she worked.

 

"You know the answer." JUDE replied, giving him nothing. She stood up and gave him a bored look, speaking without emotion, and without any sign that they had spent months together. "This will be your final day here. Arrangements have been made for you to go to Florida. This may be the last time we see each other."

 

"Wait!" Pucci screamed. "You promised me. You promised me that you would tell me how to reach Heaven!" He cried out. It was like listening to a child's tantrum.

 

It was true. JUDE had promised him not only the truth of the world, but how to attain the power to utilise that truth or to change it. It had been what made him tell himself that he was a good man whilst watching her commit her atrocities. It was how he disassociated himself.

 

The thought of that being denied to him drove him to not only anger but desperation. He was looking at her with eyes of betrayal. For all he claimed she was evil and pathetic, he seemed so upset that she might not keep her word.

 

He was so much like a lost child; driven to tears by their own lack of understanding.

 

"Doesn't your Bible tell you the answer? Or your fellow priests? Why do have doubt in your faith?" JUDE asked. Pucci looked as if he'd been slapped, which told her to keep pressing on. "That book, your confusion about the priesthood, and the desire to reach Heaven. Why is it that you could not simply be content with being a man of god with a bit more knowledge."

 

Pucci didn't say a word and yet JUDE could hear the internal debate.

 

It was not simply a matter of whether to tell the truth, but whether he could actually admit it out loud.

 

"Because I find that a great many people are fools," Pucci said. He looked pained to say it at first, but soon he found himself comfortable speaking his mind. "They think in the short-term and only of themselves. They will make decisions without thinking, even if it harms them, and I find it hard to speak to them. God asks for his priests to be understanding and loving and yet all I feel is the need to guide them. I find my passion for accepting them non-existent and my desire to teach and guide them infinitely more important.

 

"I must be the one to save humanity from its stagnation. I will make them confront their fate and face it with resolution."

 

JUDE smiled. She knew it. She knew that was it.

 

It built up in her lungs gradually at first. Then it started growing more and more until it threatened to make her lungs explode. She couldn't hold it in.

 

An uproarious laughter washed over the shore of the Red Sea and splashed over Pucci. If JUDE's mockery could be given volume, she would have deafened all those around the Red Sea itself and then some. Pucci's face itself was adorable! Such a mixture of shame, embarrassment, but most of all, offence.

 

Because of course he'd be the one offended.

 

"Oh, Enrico Pucci. You self-righteous, smug, arrogant, man." JUDE shook her head. She met his anger with honest-to-god joy and contentment. "You truly are worthy of being the final stepping stone."

 

There was no more work to be done with him. Enrico Pucci was perfect the way he was now.

 

JUDE stood up on her own two feet and decided to give the priest exactly what he'd been promised. It was only fair, after all he had done for her and her despair. The despair of being forced to face the phobia she denied having would last her until the Joestars arrived.

 

"In my diary are the details of Heaven and how to reach it. I will leave it to you when I finished with my affairs. Until then, this is goodbye." JUDE said. She kept her back to the priest.

 

Time stopped and after three seconds it resumed.

 

JUDE was no longer where she stood and Pucci would never find her. Even if he used Whitesnake to help, he would not be able to track her. He reached out to thin air and found nothing. She had already prepared everyone to move from the mansion into what would be her final residence in Egypt.

 

He began to panic as he stood alone by the shore. Perhaps he presumed some kind of attack or ambush, or that JUDE was hiding somewhere and he could attack her then. So full of energy and fear that he had been lied to or that he could cut the chase and have the prize now.

 

But after a minute of searching, he changed.

 

There was a peace of mind about him now. It was as if he'd been struck by the epiphany that JUDE- as someone truly committed to Despair- would never simply leave him to the curb and reach Heaven on her own. That at some point, she would call upon him and he would be there to put an end to her once and for all.

 

When he walked out from the Red Sea it was with resolution. A resolution to ensure that the despair that humanity faced- where an uncertain future drove them to tragedy as they did not understand fate- would be gone. Instead, he would make a world where all could face it without hesitation.

 

He would give humanity hope for the future for they would never be troubled by its mysteries.

 

He would defeat JUDE and her legacy. No matter what he had to do or sacrifice. No matter how many people had to die for it to come true. It would all be worth it in the new world.

 

JUDE watched this determination and celebrated the birth of this Warrior of Hope. This champion who would try to war with JUDE and put a stop to her when the time came.

 

The one who would be her final opponent of this world.

 

The villain whose evil was surpassed by his inability to recognise that evil.

 

A Hope so rotten, it was practically Despair.


	12. The World Under Hell IF

**Special Chapter Two  
The World Under Hell IF**

\---

JUDE had been travelling the world for some time now and had begun to grow tired of it.  
  
She had expected that at least one of the Stand-users she'd find may have threatened her with violence. At the very least, they'd have refused her offer and made her use force or her flesh-buds. Something that would present a challenge.  
  
But it seemed that these special people were all the same. They felt the same pull of gravity as JUDE but did nothing to resist it. Instead, they were happy to live in a new pre-determined harmony under her heel.  
  
Pathetic.  
  
JUDE had decided that she would go home to Cairo before realising the mistake she made. Dawn had come sooner than she thought, or rather she'd been drinking away her sorrows in the bars of Tokyo for longer than she thought, and had to flee to the nearest building to protect herself from the sun.  
  
What she found was a hospital staffed with dealing with specialised cases. The patients were cared for in-house and the doctors and nurses promised top-class treatment. It was the kind of place where either you recovered or you died in peace.  
  
A part of her wanted to just go in and made a meal out of all of these people, freeze them, make a garden out of them, or just turn them into her zombies. However, JoJo's body often resisted that power and mass zombie attacks had grown boring over the last century. She could just watch a movie if she wanted to see that. She tried and had grander visions now.  
  
Also, she was just bored.  
  
The only interesting thing she had discovered was a research establishment called Hope's Peak Academy. The name touched something inside her, but she was disappointed to find out that it was a small centre in the middle of Tokyo, rather than a towering metropolis of potential. The name was probably just fluff.  
  
It meant nothing to JUDE. She briefly contemplated going after it, but recognised no names from the news or anything that important to the world, and thus neglected it.  
  
JUDE preferred to instead lay down on one of the benches by an empty hallway and sleep her cares away. If she was spotted, then she'd be spotted. It wasn't like they'd be able to carry her out without her noticing and none of the people she saw, from security to staff, looked eager to try.  
  
She closed her eyes and began to rest.  
  
"Hey?" JUDE felt a soft jolt of pressure on her right side. "Hey?" There it was again, only slightly harder. "Wake up."  
  
A sharp kick to the side hit her. It was less the force of the blow and more the fact that it actually registered made JUDE jump in place and stumble off the bench. She who would bring about a cosmic despair instead fell to the floor nose-first. It didn't break or bleed, but it damn well hurt.  
  
She looked up at the culprit and found a moody teenager hissing in pain as he looked at his right foot.  
  
He was a tall man, slightly lean, with silky black hair, pale blue eyes with feminine eye lashes, and a cute face if with a really grumpy expression. His eyebrows were furrowed into a look of constant displeasure and small lips were pursed in anger. Right now, he was looking down at his reddened right foot. He might as well have kicked a wall.  
  
His clothes certainly didn't look like a member of staff's. A dirty white shirt only half-tucked in, sandals for his feet, and black trousers that had some kind of coffee stain on the side of the right leg. Maybe this boy was a patient of some kind.  
  
Only he carried such an authoritative tone when he opened his mouth.  
  
"Just so we're clear, no one will believe some chick with a massive body and a hoodie over me. So don't try ratting me out about patient abuse. Besides, no one would care anyway." He said.  
  
JUDE tried to remember the Japanese she had learnt. It was one of the benefits of her talent. "Hey, look, I have a condition that makes me allergic to sunlight. Couldn't you let me stay?" She asked.  
  
"Nope. But if you want, maybe you can hang out in the basement or something. No one's cleaned it up, so you'll fit right in with the dirt and rat-shit. Guards shouldn't spot you." He replied. He jabbed a finger at a door which was probably the entrance to the basement itself.  
  
JUDE hadn't been spoken to in that way for a long time. Most people in recent years were intimidated by her build or were her servants.  
  
"Matsuda? Matsuda?" A wizened and pompous voice cut off her train of thought. JUDE and the kid turned to see an old man waving enthusiastically as he ran over to them. "Ah, there you are. I was wondering where I could find you. It's about the patient-" He finally noticed JUDE and his face soured. "Who's the foreign tranny? Want me to call security. We can't have her here. Probably isn't even insured."  
  
Pretending to not understand, she sat there and waved happily. If this doctor pushed the issue, however, he might have to be killed. The same with the youngster. It was unfortunate, considering his cute face, but that was the price to be paid for being so predict-  
  
"Oi, fuck off." Matsuda said. He glared at the man as if he was a piece of gum caught on his shoe. "I'm handling this situation. Go back to the patient's room and wait for me."  
  
Well, this was a surprise.  
  
The doctor's face had turned bright red and he looked ready to explode. However, against Matsuda's look of chilled contempt, he quickly backed down and scurried off in a huff. JUDE personally found that look hilarious. She found Matsuda's actions extremely intriguing.  
  
"You wait until the exact time of night then go away. This isn't a homeless shelter, but I never liked that guy." Matsuda said. He pointed further down the hallway in a leftwards direction. "Stay away from the cafeteria. We try to keep it somewhat clean."  
  
"Says the man in the near-ruined shirt. You never heard of a washing-machine? How about dry-cleaning?" JUDE said. Matsuda somehow looked grumpier and she giggled at the sight of it. "What's your name?" She asked.  
  
"Why should I tell you?"  
  
"Why not?"  
  
He paused for a moment. JUDE thought he was looking at her but it was a bit too upwards for that. "Yasuke Matsuda."  
  
"Tell me, Yasuke Matsuda," JUDE stood up but crouched so that they were of equal height. "Do you believe in gravity?" She asked. Her question seemed to only confuse him, however.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We'll talk later." She said as she walked to the door to the basement and opened it. Matsuda was given one last glance.  
  
JUDE sank into the darkness of the basement and left Matsuda alone to try and figure out what had just happened to him. All alone and confused at what he just witnessed. It seemed as if he did have the pull of gravity like the others.  
  
But unlike them he did not seem in perpetual awe of her.  
  
It seemed that she grew a bit too hasty in writing her trip off.  
  
 _I certainly missed a few of them. Like skimming a book and missing the important stuff._ JUDE thought back to seeing Matsuda for the first time. The face...pale and gaunt and practically unhealthy. Handsome, yes, but unhealthy all the same. So much stress was built up that it was no wonder his eyebrows were constantly furrowed.  
  
The bags under his eyes from a lack of sleep. His hair was also a total mess, which added more proof to a lack of sleep. Not to mention that those eyes were hiding something. Beneath that apathy was something else; something sad and tragic.  
  
Something despairing.  
  
 _Yasuke Matsuda,_ JUDE felt her smile grow as the name rang through her mind. She slid further into the darkness.  _I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of each other._  
  


\---

  
The next morning, Yasuke Matsuda awoke to find the vampire JUDE in his room of his apartment. Needless to say, he did not react well to the 195cm giant with the face of an angel and heart of a devil popping out of nowhere.  
  
JUDE wasted little time in explaining her inhumanity and the fact that he interested her. Neither of them said it, but JUDE made it clear that he must have been interested in an immortal straight from the story-books. It was perfect for both to make a deal. She offered an arrangement where he would tell her of his work in neurology and why he did it and she would give him secrets too in exchange.  
  
Matsuda told her she was full of shit and to get out of his home.  
  
JUDE then placed a hand by the window where sunlight shined through and let him watch as it turned to cinders. It was an easy sacrifice. She could easily find the blood to heal this wound and then she would be back in business.  
  
Especially when she saw the look on his face.  
  
Matsuda became much more willing to listen to the strange woman who spoke of Stone Masks and a century beneath the waves alone. The details he cared most about were the regenerative and preservative effects of vampirism. The idea that even the head itself could recover trauma and damage.  
  
He wanted to know more about the Stone Mask. He wanted to know about what the spikes did and what properties the vampiric essence could have. He asked questions no one had ever thought to ask, so consumed by fear and righteous fury against the creatures of the night. JUDE gave him as much details as she could remember from her past.  
  
The Stone Mask was Jonathan Joestar's research, after all, and his findings had burnt with the mansion. JUDE had only take a brief look when stealing it. She still did the best she could. Which was a lot more than the average human could hope to remember.  
  
In exchange, Matsuda explained the complexities of the brain and memory. He would speak of his studies and the fame he acquired in the medical community for his part in neurology. He spoke of his passion for it when he was young and of the studies he had done at Hope's Peak and was continuing to do.  
  
His main study was in memory. He told her of how actually removing memories and leaving blank spaces was near-impossible. There had to be something to replace it with. Even if it as unrelated, it had to fill the gap. It was this replacement process that could really permanently seal memories away.  
  
But his goal wasn't to remove memories. That was just a stepping-stone to his true goal; the ability to preserve and recover memories. The ideal that pieces of human memory itself could be placed into back-ups like computers and be downloaded whenever needed. That the diseases that robbed memory and damaged the brain could be at least circumvented.  
  
He explained how brain-waves and their patterns could be used for 'brain-fingerprinting' and be a much more reliant way of detecting lies than the traditional methods.  
  
JUDE listened to this and came up with many conclusions about this man in front of her.  
  
She decided that this man had an exceptional level of skill and intelligence for someone so young. She decided that he had an arrogance to him that was ugly to most and yet attractive to her. He gave her no respect or fear. Just contempt and derision. Just listening to him made her salivate.  
  
She also figured out that he was at that hospital for his mother who had a disease that made her forget him.  
  
There was a passion that couldn't be anything but personal. He spoke of problems with the hippocampus- essential for long-term memories- as if he had gone over case files a thousand times looking for answers. He spoke of how problems there could spread until it affected even basic functions and instincts.  
  
You could have problems with the hippocampus and still learn to ride a bike. Not when it spread beyond that and worsened.  
  
She probably couldn't even remember or recognise her own son.  
  
JUDE was right; Matsuda had even been banned from seeing her when he was a child because he distressed her. She did not recognise this growing child as her baby. Yet...and yet! Her motherly instincts told her to comfort this crying boy and to assure him it'd be all right, even when she didn't know who this was. The heart and the mind tore at each other trying to understand what to do about this infant.  
  
The results were rarely pretty.  
  
Matsuda's position at Hope's Peak and his own reputation were what allowed him to not only move his mother closer to him but to force himself into her treatment. No doctor had the power to refuse him. No hospital wished to risk alienating such genius.  
  
JUDE listened to his stories and Matsuda listened to hers. He told her of his desire to study the brain further and to somehow save his mother. She told him of Stands and the concept of gravity; where people were drawn to one another, and the idea of fate binding people to a pre-determined harmony.  
  
He told her of his doubts and fears, but would then deny it after realising what he just did. She would tell him of her analytical abilities and how dead the world around her felt. How Despair encompassed her until she learnt to both enjoy and inflict it.  
  
Days passed as the two would spend time in Matsuda's home. She would merrily greet him and offer overly-joyous words of gratitude too enthusiastic to be real. He would give cutting remarks and insults about her body and her personality in return. The two nevertheless grew closer.  
  
After a few weeks, however, JUDE announced that she would be leaving. Just when Matsuda had felt that the two had started to understand one another, JUDE cut the ties between them and was off to do what she did best. Matsuda told her to not let the door hit her on the face out and that he was glad the stench and ugliness would be gone.  
  
He was lying.  
  
Meanwhile, JUDE did not leave without a parting gift.  
  
Matsuda's prize for interesting her was to be given the head of a Stand Arrow that she had brought with her on her journey. She told him that when the time came and he felt that they had to be re-united, to simply relay his feelings into the Arrow, and it would act.  
  
Knowing the risks if he wasn't strong enough, Matsuda insulted the gift and refused to use it. Yet JUDE still saw him delicately place it against his bedside table and refuse to look away when telling her goodbye.  
  
He was cute like that.  
  
And so, the vampire departed from the home of the neurologist and he went back to his day-to-day normal life. It felt as if the time he spent with JUDE was some kind of manga story that just abruptly ended one issue. He decided to just throw himself into his work and forget about her.  
  
Months later, in a time of great pain and anguish, and in a fit of despair, he used the Arrow to call upon her.  
  


\---

  
When Matsuda's mother died, he stayed in his room for a month.  
  
The Arrow told him to travel to Cairo, but fuck the Arrow. He didn't need it. He didn't care anymore.  
  
All he wanted to do was sit in his own squalor and think of his failures. The man who was supposed to be among the top of his field and he couldn't even save one woman. He couldn't even save his only family.  
  
 _She didn't even recognise me._ Matsuda wondered if that had been some cosmic joke. Wasn't the patient supposed to recognise the loved one who'd been treating them for months now?  _She didn't. In the end, I was just the doctor she felt nervous around. She gave her last words to a figment of her imagination._  
  
A part of Matsuda wondered, if he hadn't forced himself to eat, drink, and sleep, he'd have died by now.  
  
Who would even mourn him if he did die?  
  
So when there was a knock on the door, he didn't answer it. He wasn't in the mood for well-wishers and people asking when he'd come out again.  
  
Then the doorknob broke.  
  
"Matsuda, when I said take as long as you need, I thought that meant in actually getting to Cairo. Not in seeing how long until you wither into some kind of skeleton. I mean, I'm great, but I'm not a god. Not yet." JUDE said. She was talking as if he'd been half an hour late to a meeting between them.  
  
She walked into the apartment and into the living room where rotting food and stale water littered and stained the floor. If the scent troubled her, she was doing a great bluff of hiding it. Surveying the room, her eyes fell on where Matsuda sat. His arms were wrapped around his legs and he stared at the wall away from her.  
  
"Come on, let's go bury her." She said simply. It caught Matsuda off-guard.  
  
"What?" He thought he heard wrong until he saw the look on her face.  
  
"You're either going to stay here and rot or I find something to do with you and we talk during it. Might as well do the fun option. It'd be despairing to see your corpse, but I'm not good with waiting so come." JUDE clapped her hands. Did she think he was some kind of trained monkey?  
  
Somehow, by means Matsuda still didn't understand, she had managed to corral him out of his apartment and into the night with just his dirty shirt and a pair of shorts on. In the backseat of a car was the gently-wrapped body of his mother and JUDE sat on the driver's seat. He thought about asking if she had a licence and cursed his own stupidity.  
  
The drive there was silent bar a demand for some kind of additional clothing on Matsuda's part. JUDE simply looked at him and laughed in his face.  
  
They arrived at the cemetery, reached an empty spot flanked by graves, and the two just started digging. JUDE didn't say how she got this space and Matsuda didn't care. All he was concerned with was the fact that he had a boring job to do that let him keep his mind off his mother.  
  
Only, it began to gravitate towards JUDE instead.  
  
"Did you ever have to do this for a parent?" He asked. "Have you ever had to bury someone close to you like this?"  
  
"Martha buried our mother. She didn't want me to see her corpse and no way was Dario gonna pay for a funeral. One of the only times she actually told me no." JUDE replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "I think George Joestar got roasted in the mansion. Never gave a damn about him. Bastard just liked it when I played the boring old Victorian ideal woman."  
  
"So no one. You've never lost anyone you've cared about, or you just don't care?" Matsuda, for some reason, couldn't believe it. There had to be someone.  
  
JUDE stopped digging as did Matsuda. An awkward silence hung over the two. The vampire looked over to the human and shrugged, as if to somewhat apologise without showing any real regret.  
  
"Yeah, I'm Despair. That's my thing. I kill and torment for the thrill of it. My heart goes all doki-doki when I see a maiden in peril. Is that what you Japs call it?" JUDE had given her answer, but Matsuda wasn't willing to accept it.  
  
"What happened to Martha?"  
  
"Froze her and chucked her off a cliff. Got smashed into teeny-tiny bits," JUDE then started muttering under her breath. "Then one of them sliced off my head."  
  
"That how you got the body?" Matsuda motioned his eyes towards the hulking chunk of muscle he was pretty sure JUDE didn't come by naturally.  
  
"A nice British boy named Jonathan Joestar gave it to me." JUDE said. "I wanted his wife's, but he just had to be a gentleman. Ended up spending nearly a goddamn century underwater because of it."  
  
Matsuda didn't start digging again like JUDE did. There had to be something in her. There had to be a reason she seemed eager to just end the conversation. She was treating it like an irritating fly; just swatting it in the hopes it'd end.  
  
So that meant it was getting to her. That he was finding out something. That she wasn't just Despair in human form.  
  
"You really never felt close to anyone?" He asked, briefly cursing himself for sounding so pitiful about it.  
  
JUDE violently stabbed her shovel into the dirt and turned to face Matsuda fully. He became all too aware of the height difference now.  
  
"Why should I? It's not like Martha ever truly understood me." JUDE's voice turned cold. It was the first time she actually seemed upset. "If she had, I wouldn't have had to be the one to give her a gift like none other. At least JoJo was Hope, so he had to fight Despair and lose, but Martha was always so incompetent. She'd give me the bigger slice of cake, she'd let me win games, and she'd always try to cuddle with me. What kind of despair is that? Maybe I wanna fuck instead of cuddle? What's the point of winning if there was never a chance of losing?"  
  
With that, she began digging again at a much quicker and rougher pace than before. She was even grunting with each dig because she was putting in so much force. Matsuda wondered if the shovel was going to break at some point.  
  
But then she started slowing down.  
  
Her breathing steadied and she looked at him with different eyes and spoke softer.  
  
"The point is, I ditched stuff like human relationships when I rejected my humanity. Matsuda, I asked you if you believed in gravity. Maybe that was the wrong question. So here's a better one for you; what can you do when the people you love aren't the people you think they should be? What if the person you thought knew you actually didn't get it at all? What can you do when they seem fated for doom? Like your mother?"  
  
Matsuda said nothing in reply. That last question had been enough to silence him. Not that it'd keep JUDE from reading his face and seeing every bit of guilt, anger, sadness, and curiosity on it.  
  
What could he do when someone he cared for was seemingly so set on hurting themselves?  
  
He didn't have the answer. He wasn't supposed to.  
  
What they did do, however, was finish digging the hole where his mother would be placed. Or rather, the hole where his mother's body was supposed to be placed as of now. At first, Matsuda even believed that he and JUDE were really going to bury her here.  
  
In reality, he should have realised that the lack of scent or blood on those wrappings should have been a clue.  
  
The funeral would be next week and Matsuda alone would stand and watch as his mother would be buried. No one else came, having long-since cut ties with the woman who could scream and weep at the sight of her own son, let alone her friends. The priest would give his regards and Matsuda would give some kind of thanks and that'd be it.  
  
After that, Matsuda went back to his research and job. He was given condolences and excuses and hated every damn minute of it. He hated the pity they poured on him and that each and every one of them were expecting him to cry. Even judging him for not shedding a tear.  
  
It was easier with JUDE now. Well, as easy as it was to live with a mooch who forced him to do all the cleaning while she ate his food and took up his living space with whatever junk she found on the night scene. All of her little affections and teasing was just so goddamn annoying.  
  
(But also easier to focus on than what dirty work she was doing behind his back.)  
  
For some reason, she stuck around. Matsuda never said anything about the Stand Arrow or their conversation at the graveyard. JUDE never asked about it either. The two of them just lived together and talked and played. For what it was worth, she was a cheater at video games.  
  
Months passed and they got back to talking. Stories of absentee and abusive fathers, moments of kindness or selflessness that neither could comprehend, tales of deceit and pushing others away. Neither dared to say it, but both knew that they were opening their hearts to each other. Both knew, but would never say, just what JUDE meant to Matsuda.  
  
Only, one day, as both sat on the couch next to one another, JUDE finally said something that took him aback.  
  
"I feel as if we were fated to meet one another." JUDE said one day. She reached out and stroked one of his locks. "Count yourself lucky. I normally reject that kind of stuff out of spite."  
  
"So what? Why should I care when you don't?" Matsuda spoke with more bitterness than intended and moved more violently than he wanted.  
  
JUDE said nothing for a few moments before she spoke again.  
  
"You can cry if you want."  
  
"I don't want to." Matsuda hissed as he pushed himself further into the couch.  
  
"Why not? I won't tell anyone."  
  
"You have no one to tell."  
  
"But you have someone to tell. Me." JUDE slithered her body closer until she almost crushed him between herself and the couch. "I wouldn't ever forget that kind of trust."  
  
"How should I know you won't forget out of despair or spite?"  
  
"I wouldn't. Not with you." JUDE tried to wrap her arms around his waist. Matsuda roughly elbowed her and had to stop himself from rubbing it in pain. "Even if I did forget you, you'll just heal me."  
  
He said nothing. He couldn't. But he couldn't help himself, even as his body shook. "You...you idiot..." He turned to face her. She never looked this way before; so serene and content. She was almost beautiful. "Acting like you're above it all. You did love her. You loved him too. You loved them both and hurt them. How should I know you won't with me."  
  
"Because it's just who I am." JUDE replied, putting a hand on his right cheek. "But Yasuke, there is a way to solve the riddle I gave you. Let me stay with you and I'll show you the way to reach out to your loved ones."  
  
"I don't have any...not anymore."  
  
Then it happened; the first time that Yasuke Matsuda had ever cried in front of another person.  
  
He wept bitterly for years of pain and suffering for both his mother and himself and had to stop JUDE from wrapping her arms around him. He did not want comfort and nor did he want this to be known. It would be a secret shared between the two of them and no one else.  
  
JUDE was not his family. JUDE was not his lover. JUDE wasn't even his friend.  
  
Yet Matsuda now had none of those three and yet still had JUDE. She was somehow more than all three to him now. She was the one who survived and was still there for him.  
  
In the back of his mind, Yasuke Matsuda began wondering deeply about the question JUDE had posed to him. About what he could do to stop his loved ones from destroying themselves. How to free them from their cursed fate.  
  
How exactly he could save JUDE from her Despair and the world from both.  
  


\---

  
"JUDE...what does it mean to go to Heaven?" Matsuda leaned into his chair and looked at the 'patient' on his bed.  
  
"Oh, Matsuda, I think you know what it-"  
  
"Cut the shit. You know I'm not talking about the Judeo-Christian idea of Heaven. You know I don't and I'm not going to guess if you're going to screw with me."  
  
JUDE grinned and licked her lips. "Always so mean and cruel to little ol' me. You're usually so tender and sweet in bed." JUDE's smile didn't drop one inch even with Matsuda's glare. "To reach Heaven is to claim the seat of divinity. In other words, you're basically god if he could be killed. The world, hell the universe, is yours to alter and change to whatever your heart desires."  
  
"So if I were to wish for a world where you'd keep your mouth shut, I could get it if I reached Heaven? Huh. It'd be nice to read my manga in peace again."  
  
"You could even change the world itself into a manga. Whatever genre you like; from shounen to shoujou to seinen. Hell, just make it a light novel while you're at it."  
  
"And if I wanted to change you?"  
  
JUDE's smile fell from her face. Where she'd be lying down with relaxation on her mind, now her body had tensed and she was looking at him carefully. Matsuda wondered if her Stand was giving him the exact same treatment. He couldn't recognise what that look contained, however. Was it caution, dislike, or something else?  
  
Moments passed that might as well have been hours. The two kept eye contact and neither looked away. Was Matsuda trying to read JUDE, or was JUDE trying to read Matsuda? What were either of them even looking for?  
  
JUDE broke the silence between them as always.  
  
"Would you like to practice brain surgery on me?"  
  
"Wh-What?!" Matsuda was almost swept off his feet. "The hell are you talking about? I'd need a theatre, notes, computers, and medical equipment that'd easily get noticed. Did that Stone Mask drain your brain of intelligence for the vampiric essence to fit in?"  
  
"I'm serious." JUDE said. In a flash, a familiar crown came to her head, and she spoke regally. "Just let me handle the underlings at your workplace. I promise, you'll have everything you'd need for this process. I want to help you, my love. If that means letting you poke around in my brain, then that's the price to be paid."  
  
He shouldn't have been so quick to believe her.  
  
He shouldn't have been so tempted by the possibilities.  
  
He shouldn't have been so compliant with her desires.  
  
But this wasn't the first time that he would do something she wanted and it wouldn't be the last either. Refusing her had become impossible for him after so long together. To reject her request now would be to put up a massive wall between them. There was another part of him, also, that wanted to know more about her brain.  
  
A brain that could survive and regenerate from any trauma. A brain that would never be damaged bar death. The kind of brain he wanted for his mother.  
  
JUDE was as good as her word in securing an operating theatre and getting herself strapped down. Matsuda had most of his tools ready for this kind of surgery. He could cut through the skin and bone and reach the actual brain itself. There was blood to help JUDE's regeneration. He could study it fully and without restraint.  
  
"Where's the anaesthesia?" Matsuda asked before realising the obvious. "No. No, fuck this. I'm not-"  
  
"Yasuke," JUDE didn't even look at him, nor change her voice's inflection at all. He still froze in place. "I trust you. Now begin studying."  
  
This was it. This was JUDE's gift to him. Something that no one else in his profession could legally get and something no one in their right mind would offer.  
  
JUDE, of course, had never been in her right mind. That was the problem Matsuda wanted to solve.  
  
 _And that means studying her brain. Down to the very last detail._ Matsuda wondered if there were differences between the brain of a vampire and the brain of a human. If there was an additional function that controlled regeneration.  
  
Regeneration of the memory.  
  
Any morally-righteous doctor would be ashamed of how quickly someone with Matsuda's Talent had given into the temptation and got to work. Any ambitious or curious doctor would have been jealous.  
  
If only they could see what Matsuda saw. If only they could see the trove of knowledge and experience he was discovering for himself.  
  
He could tamper with a portion of the brain endlessly and it would always recover. He could study every little detail and shift with each different action. JUDE had offered him the chance to advance the field of neurology by ten, no, twenty years! The problems and barriers to their study were being demolished in an instant.  
  
JUDE meanwhile was an ideal patient. She did her best to tell him what she was experiencing as he tempered with her frontal, parietal lobe, and occipital lobes. She told him when her speech and body functions had changed- for obvious reasons Matsuda did his best to keep speech intact- and of how her perceptions of sight and sound were being altered by his work. She even mentioned how her sense of colour and light had changed.  
  
All of this work made Matsuda's blood race. This was it! All the pieces of so many unfinished puzzles were coming together. He was ascending beyond the Super High School Level of his past. He had become a level beyond that which Hope's Peak Academy had ever envisioned!  
  
He wasn't just the Ultimate Neurologist. He had become neurology.  
  
Or he might have, were it not for his weakness when reaching the temporal lobe.  
  
The part of the brain that controlled memory, amongst other details, and the place where Matsuda was sure he could save JUDE by altering.  
  
Her system of judgement came from the frontal lobe, but no matter what Matsuda did, he could sense not even a temporary change in JUDE's love for Despair.  
  
It was as he thought; it was not only her analytical abilities that brought about despair, but the memories of the past as well. Chains holding her down and towards despair when he just needed to save her from it. To keep her from seeing this world as flat and boring.  
  
It'd be so easy to try it. Just make her lose her memories and then act to keep it that way as long as possible. Just until he could find a way to really make it permanent.  
  
But not so long as The World was creeping by his back. He could never see it, but he knew when it was there. He had learned to read JUDE and knew that she wouldn't let him take her from Despair that easily. If he tried anything, it would stop time and possibly even kill him.  
  
It was both a gift and a test. A test to see if he would try to strike when she was at her most vulnerable.  
  
So that was why Matsuda did not tamper with her memory and instead began to finish his work and go over his findings. JUDE's body was capable of healing itself and if she was bothered by the pain, then the despair it brought had intoxicated her in a way no alcohol or anaesthesia could.  
  
Yasuke Matsuda had to accept that there were some things he couldn't change. There were some people that just couldn't be saved because they just didn't want to be saved. He could do nothing.  
  
Not while he lacked power.  
  
Not while he lacked a Stand.  
  
Not while he lacked the way to Heaven.  
  


\---

  
"Yasuke, it's time I went back to Cairo." JUDE said. It was as if she was talking about having him do the night-shopping again. "Enya can only control them for so long. And it's time for me to cut my last ties with the past."  
  
"Are you even going to tell me what it is you're planning?" Matsuda asked. He kept his voice level, even if his manga tore slightly from his grip.  
  
"Nope. You're just gonna have to live in mystery." JUDE said. She turned on his couch and rested her chin on her palms. She extended one out to try and stroke his chin with her finger. "But don't feel too bad, my love. I'm gonna leave you with some gifts!"  
  
He swatted the hand away and put his manga down. "Cut the crap. The only sweet thing you can make is sugary foods and even there you suck."  
  
"Such a meanie." JUDE said. She had that 'cute' face on which pissed him off.  
  
"Don't pout and cross your arms. You look completely stupid with that body." He said, to which JUDE sighed.  
  
"Leave it to a boy to think of a woman's body first. If I had my old body, you'd never move your face from my sweet tits." She replied as she began moving left and right to emphasise her bust.  
  
"Whatever." Matsuda said. He might have left it at that, if she didn't stand up. It made him lose control. "Don't die."  
  
"No promises." JUDE smiled slyly and motioned to the ornament resting beside him. "You can keep the Stand Arrow. Use it whenever you like."  
  
"When will I see you again?" Matsuda asked. JUDE laughed without any trace of comedy.  
  
"When I'm done with the ghosts of my past...I will call you." JUDE held a hand to her heart. "You. The one who is devoted to me like none other. The one who will put their vision above anything else because it is what they believe in sincerely and from the bottom of their heart."  
  
"You really believe that?" Matsuda scoffed at the very thought.  
  
Again, JUDE put her hand to his hair and stroked it gently. She normally only did it after some big show of affection, rather than starting with it. She knelt down and was face to face with him.  
  
She gently kissed him on the lips before he could even do anything.  
  
"I know it's true." She whispered, leaning in close to his ear. "Yasuke, I don't think I've ever felt this way about someone in a century. You, out of billions, are the one who captured my heart."  
  
Matsuda couldn't let it end like this. He couldn't just let her walk away without him asking if it was really that important. If she really couldn't live without it, even as it hurt her so much.  
  
Without telling her things he normally would have kept secret.  
  
"JUDE-"  
  
"Goodbye." JUDE smiled in a way he had never truly seen her smile before. It was honestly the most beautiful thing he'd seen since his mother before the disease.  
  
She vanished in the blink of an eye. It was probably the work of The World; stopping time so that she could escape without leaving even the slightest of traces. He'd never be able to find her now.  
  
The power to stop time and this was what she used it for.  
  
 _Leave it to her to leave at the dumbest moment._ Matsuda didn't feel like reading his manga anymore. Instead, he went to his bedroom and found a neatly-wrapped present box with a perfect bow on top.  _She acts like her talent is a curse and still uses it freely._  
  
He opened it up without much care for the wrapping or bow. Inside, however, was a average-sized teddy-bear with a look that was very much not average. One half was white and normal and the other half looked exactly like how JUDE would design a teddy-bear. Right down to the killer smile.  
  
Inside the box as well as a note addressed to him that he picked up with his other hand to read.  
  
 _Dear Yasuke  
  
Like the bear? I designed him back in the 1880s, but he got named a few years back. Get it? It's like monochrome! The mixing of white hope and black despair- kyaaaa! Is that what your Japanese girls like to say? Make sure you hug and kiss him every day for me. He's part of a big family. Where there's my blood, you'll find a Monokuma. Except for one kid, pretty sure that's gathering dust in some closet somewhere, but you don't need to worry about him or his dad. That's someone else's problem.  
  
I'll see on the road to Heaven.  
  
XXX  
  
JUDE._  
  
"Idiot." Matsuda said, shaking his head. "Idiot to the end."  
  
He knew she was going to win whatever fight she was about to get into. She was a vampire with immeasurable strength and speed even without The World's own power by her side. Add on the ability to stop time and her enemies were all but dead already.  
  
Nothing could defeat her. He was sure of it.  
  
But even so, he found himself praying that she'd survive and win. That her affairs would be done and that she would call him over to Cairo. He hoped she'd remember to call him and wasn't just lying.  
  
 _Because, JUDE, when you see me again,_ Matsuda moved to his bedside table and pulled out the Stand Arrow; it's arrowhead, to be precise. He placed it over his right upper arm to avoid excessive bleeding and took off his shirt to avoid stains.  _I'll be the one to save you._  
  
With one sharp thrust, he stabbed the Arrow into his arm and hissed from the slight pain. His vision flashed and his senses numbed for a moment as he felt the power rush into him. His breathing grew deeper and firmer. It was like his very body was on fire!  
  
He could feel it. The power of his soul was materialising behind him. The name of this thing was coming to his mind right now. This was it! This was his Stand!  
  
And so would begin the journey of Yasuke Matsuda in abandoning his morality.  
  
All for the woman he loved.  
  


\---

_  
Some time later..._  
  
In the end, it was incredibly easy to be chosen for the position.  
  
In fact, it was incredibly easy to have the position created.  
  
"Yasuke Matsuda, I hereby declare you to be the official consultant-doctor for the mental health of our inmates here at Green Dolphin Street Prison." The warden declared. He was acting as if this was his idea, instead of something forced on him. Still, it didn't stop him from trying to suck up to him. "If you don't mind me asking-"  
  
"You'll just ask anyway." Matsuda said. The warden's eyes flashed with annoyance, but it wasn't like he could do anything to a graduate of Hope's Peak. The name was starting to carry more weight in recent years. "I chose this place because I believe anyone can be cured of the ailments that drive them to these kinds of things. I think that this is also a good place for my research into neurology."  
  
"Well, we'll do the best we can for your part-time contract." The warden replied.  
  
The dumbass didn't even try to not look happy as Matsuda made his way out the door. It was a miracle that the prison was so well-run with a boot-licker like him in charge.  
  
Not that he should be complaining. He got the job and now it was merely a matter of waiting it out until the right moment.  
  
The moment when he could discover what JUDE had intended to tell him.  
  
The moment when he could reach out for Heaven.  
  
The moment when he could save the woman he loved.  
  
 _JUDE, I promise you._ Matsuda gritted his teeth and looked ahead. The time for weakness and second-guessing ended long ago.  _I will save you from Despair! I will cure you, if not in this world, then the world I will create for us!_


	13. Bonus Features Two

**Bonus Features Two**

 

 

**Josuke Hair Insult**

 

Akamatsu: "That hair's like a piano from the 20s! Out of date and heading for the trash!"

 

Saihara: "That hair...I've really had enough of cosplayers..."

 

Momota: "You know who I am? I'm Kaito Momota! The man who's going into space and the hell away from that stupid fucking hair!"

 

Harukawa: "Do you want to be killed?"

 

Yumeno: "If you like, I can use my magic to get you a potion to help fix that hair. But you gotta lather, rinse, and repeat or the spell doesn't work."

 

Tenko: "Only a real menace would go for such stupid hair!"

 

Angie: "That hair...God is telling Angie that it's lame! Lame, lame, lame."

 

Kiibo: "I want to be more human...but not that bad."

 

Ouma: "Wow! That hair's so cool! Man, I'm super-jealous you managed to make it look like that....but that's a lie!"

 

Iruma: "HYAHYAHYA! What happened?! Did your vibrating dildo get in your hair somehow! It's great pussy-repellent, I'll give it that!"

 

Gonta: "Oh no! Please be careful! If you move too violently, the bees will get mad. Just let Gonta talk to them and then Gonta can get that hive out."

 

Shinguji: "One must keep an open mind to new experiences and cultural practices. Thankfully, your hair is neither and so I can cast it to the ash-heaps of history."

 

Hoshi: "Kid, you trying to impress someone? Eh, do what you want, but don't get pissy because people don't lie about how they feel."

 

Toujou: "In my list of skills, hair-design is rare but certainly high-quality. I would be more than happy to help change that hair to something more fashionable. Your consent is unnecessary."

 

Amami: "Not to be mean, but you've really never thought about changing it to something better?"

 

Tsumugi: "That pompadour! It's exactly what I need to replace that tattered, old, Oowada wig! Give it to me!"

 

* * *

 

**Joseph Disguise Reaction**

 

Hinata: "Wha-! No! What the hell?!"

 

Izuru: "...Unpredictable, but somehow worse than boring."

 

Nanami: "I think I've seen someone like you before. It was on a joke Bad End to a dating sim."

 

Komaeda: "Someone exceptional like yourself could have just asked me to cross-dress instead while you change back...please."

 

Sonia: "Mister Joestar, please remain more than fifty feet away from me at all times."

 

Souda: "Change back! Please! They clearly know it's us!"

 

Gundham: "Curses! The soul of the Forbidden One has been struck! What is this power that makes even the Dark Devas of Destruction hide in fear?"

 

Akane: "...Can I go punch people now?"

 

Nidai: "Great idea, Joseph! We'll use the obviously-fake disguise to make them ignore any weapons we have on us!"

 

Kuzuryuu: "What the fuck?! Why would you think that would ever work!"

 

Peko: "Infiltration has failed. We'll have to resort to force."

 

Tsumiki: "I'm sorry!"

 

Saionji: "Waaaa!!! Big Sis Koizumi! That Joseph guy's being really disgusting and weird!"

 

Koizumi: "Gah! I accidentally took a picture! Must...tear...it...apart...at...all...costs!"

 

Hanamura: "My eyes! My beautiful virgin eyes!"

 

Sagishi: "I can literally make a much better disguise in half the time using those same materials. Yes, even with the same amount of make-up."

 

Mitarai: "That's it! I just want to go back to my room and make anime!"

 

* * *

**V3 Stands**

 

** Private Investigations **

**User: Shuichi Saihara**

**Stats**

Destructive Power D

Speed B

Range: Size of crime scene

Durability D

Precision B

Developmental Potential C

 

**Abilities**

Stand appears as a young person dressed in the style of a 1950s-film detective with a look of perpetual gloom.

 

User has the ability to create manifestations of objects from a period of twenty-four hours within a room. If the room in question has had a crime committed inside it, the user can replicate the object from the moment the crime was committed. Limitations are that the object can only be generated in the exact same place that it was originally and the user must know what that object is.

 

User can replicate the 'scene of the crime', however, if a crime was committed in the room while they are within that room. If a physical object is present where an object had been during the moment of the crime, or when Private Investigations generates the object from a moment in time free from a crime, then both objects will merge in place with one another. This can make movement difficult, cause panic, and enable movement of the generated-object, although its breaking risks damage to the object or person it had merged with.

 

User can dispel the effect when they like but can only use it once per generated object/crime-scene.

 

** Piano Man **

**User: Kaede Akamatsu**

**Stats**

Destructive Power A

Range C

Speed B

Durability A

Precision D

Developmental Potential A

 

**Abilities**

The Stand resembles a suited pianist who'd somehow fit into both an elaborate concert hall and yet also a quiet, melancholic bar. The only difference lies in its pink head and hands, with the face and palms being speakers.

 

These speakers can recognise emotions in voice and replicate sounds spoken, but remove certain parts of that noise- such as removing all but one person's voice when many people are arguing- and even swallow the noise itself and make it seem as if all other occupants in a room are deaf. However, the range is restricted to 10m.

 

When 'swallowing' the sound, the Stand can allow the user to distort conversations, but to also enhance that sound energy into powerful, concussive blasts of sound that resembles piano-keys being slammed upon. These sound-waves can be refined as the user better understands their Stand and can even make the sounds closer match that of a competent piano player. As the user is more capable of using the Stand's abilities, the more refined and elegant the sounds become.

 

** Don't Fear The Reaper **

**User: Maki Harukawa**

**Stats**

Destructive Power A

Range A

Speed A

Durability B

Precision A

Developmental Potential E

 

**Abilities**

Stand takes the appearance of a depiction of the Western image of Death i.e. the Grim Reaper, only its cloaked body is coated in holsters containing pistols, rifles, rocket-launchers, spears, swords, axes, crossbow-bolts, crossbows, bow and arrows, and all sorts of firearms and melee weapons. Its main weapon, however, is its scythe. All weapons work the same way as normal counterparts would in all aspects other than one key area.

 

Injuries caused by the Stand to the target are permanent and medical technology, techniques, or even the Stand itself, cannot heal the wounds or create substitutes to bodily damage. This effect only applies to organic lifeforms. The user has no control over the target beyond who they are attempting to harm. Those who get in the way of the Stand's attack will be hurt regardless.

 

Stand must be directed by the user and can only travel 5m from them. Stand can only fight when the user does and requires direction the way any weapon would.

 

** Mind Is The Magic **

**User: Himiko Yumeno**

**Stats**

Destructive Power E

Range A

Speed C

Durability E

Precision D

Developmental Potential A

 

**Abilities**

Stand allows the user to perform acts of 'magic' that seemingly defy the laws of physics. However, the action must be believed by all, or least a large majority of observers are willing to agree to believe, for it to function. This limits the user to use the Stand for actions which are conceivably believable for a human magician to perform, but the Stand enables a lack of need for tools. If dealing with a single individual, however, user could make use of the Stand in greater ways if the user wishes it enough, but only that which applies to the user themselves.

 

'Magic' that affects a particular target, however, requires that target's knowledge and permission. This makes the Stand near-useless in direct combat and more of a supportive role is required.

 

** Thirty-Six Chambers **

**User: Tenko Chabashira**

**Stats**

Destructive Power B

Speed B

Range B

Durability C

Precision B

Developmental Potential B

 

**Abilities**

Stand appears when the user readies for battle. Its appearance is that of a thick wooden pole bursting from the ground, without causing actual damage, only to burst to show another version of the user. The appearance of this Stand varies in that the number of poles will vary.

 

User can summon up to thirty-five clones of themselves; all with the same memories and abilities up to that point. There is no range that the clones are restricted from travelling from the user and death of a clone will not harm the user. The number of clones summoned does not negatively affect the ability of the user and there is no time-limit to the ability. To remove a clone, they must be killed or both they and the user agree to end the life of the clone and their memories become one.

 

The key weakness of this Stand is that while the user and their clones will be inflicted by the memory of death, they cannot predict the actions of one another. Each may be a clone, but each is also their own person. Co-ordination has to be established. Another weakness is that when the user is killed, the clones will suffer the same death, unless that clone is the one to strike the killing-blow.

****

** Jesus He Knows Me **

**User: Angie Yonaga**

**Stats**

Destructive Power D

Speed C

Range C

Durability D

Precision B

Developmental Potential C

 

**Abilities**

Stand takes the form of a large block with properties of some kind of waxen wood that forms another copy when it is used- but only after the original is changed. User requires carving tools to use the Stand to its full potential, but painting and drawing tools work too.

 

User can change Stand to take a different form, irrespective of size or shape, when approached by another individual or group of individuals. The Stand takes the shape of the thing closest to the heart of those approaching from a range of twenty meters and will seemingly have all their memories and physical shape familiar to the affected's latest memories. The affected's mind are not affected in theory, but their hearts will believe that this person is the one they love and trust most of all.

 

Stand uses this to advise the individual to make decisions to benefit the user, whether they are friend, enemy, or even simply neutral to her before. If the affected wills her harm, the Stand will give advice that sabotages this effort if the affected's heart cannot be changed to co-operate with the user.

 

However, if the affected is capable of accepting that this is not their most beloved/trusted, then the Stand melts into wax, but when confronting a group the other manifestations remain. How the user knows is unknown. It may be an additional ability of the Stand to inform them via mind-reading, or perhaps it is the word of 'God'.

 

** Thriller **

**User: Korekiyo Shinguji**

**Stats**

Destructive Power B

Range B

Speed D

Durability B

Precision A

Developmental Potential C

 

**Abilities**

The Stand is activated when the user resolves to murder the target. Stand will take the form of the target's worst fear and hunt them down. Abilities of the Stand vary depending on the fear, although these abilities weaken when facing a group who have multiple differing fears. Stand will escalate circumstances of the fear, whether through the illusion of repetition of trauma or by forcing circumstances where the target is trapped by fear, and will grow stronger as target's fear grows. Inevitably, the target will either die from fear-induced heart attack, commit suicide to escape, or be driven into insanity and/or a comatose state.

 

If the target faces their fears head-on, however, then the Stand weakens and is vulnerable to attacks. The same applies to when facing a group so is better suited for hunting down individuals and isolating them.

 

** The Chain **

**User: Ryouma Hoshi**

**Stats**

Destructive Power C

Speed B

Range A

Durability C

Precision E

Developmental Potential B

 

**Abilities**

Stand activates when user throws or hits an object at a certain level of speed. Momentum is not altered on that object, whether increased or decreased, until the user strikes at the object with the 'tool' used to move it in the first place. Another method is for the object to be encased entirely with no room to move for a minute. Stand does not increase user's strength, speed, or endurance, but can be used multiple times, and the user cannot control the direction of the object after the initial strike.

 

** Master and Servant **

**User: Kirumi Toujou**

**Stats**

Destructive Power D

Speed C

Range A

Durability B

Precision D

Developmental Potential A

 

Stand takes two separate forms. One appears as a hulking knight in white armour with an apparently unbreakable shield in one hand and a sword that seemingly cut through anything while its armour does little to negate its speed. The other meanwhile, appears initially as a miniature version of the user.

 

The knight will do whatever it can to protect the user and follow their will. With its mastery in combat skills, it will often drive the target into a corner. The other, meanwhile, will appear and inform the target that they represent the hesitation in the user's heart and the desire to not harm another. They will give advice on how to defeat the knight and this advice will be legitimate and enable the target to defeat the knight. However, the knight grows stronger over time and can adapt, forcing the user to fight harder or continue to rely on direction. As the target and the Stand work together and the latter is relied upon more, they will grow and give more direction and assist directly, until the knight is defeated.

 

The Stand then activates. The target will soon realise that they are incapable of moving and the Stand named Master will reveal its intentions. The target, having grown reliant on the Stand, is now a 'dependent' and while it appears as a servant offering advice, the Stand is actually 'Master' and through it the user can force the target into obeying commands. Master can use this new 'Servant' to fight other targets by issuing commands. Stand can be used on multiple targets at a time.

 

To break the effects of the Stand, the target must either reject advice given or take the initiative in defeating the knight Servant. This will be difficult as the advice given is objectively useful. What the target must do, when accepting the advice, is not let themselves grow dependent on it and fight with their own way as the advice given is not the only way to defeat the knight. If the knight is defeated by the target's own strength, the Stand is dispelled.

 

* * *

**EoH Team-Ups**

 

JUDE/Jude: "Eh? My younger self and I teaming up? Guess I'll teach her the ropes.", "What makes you think I'd want some old hag's advice? "

Victory: "Vampirism's soooo 19th Century. Stands are the way of the future!", "And it took a century for you to level-up? That straddles the lines between despairing and disappointing."

 

JUDE/Martha: "Judith, I don't know what happened...but I'm with you until the end!", "..."

Victory: "Martha, did you ever understand?", "Judith?", "I said do you even understand how to fight? I can't believe I thought the only thing you were good for was fighting. You can't even do that right without your baby sister having to come save you."

 

JUDE/Junko: "What the fuck?! I gotta team-up with this bitch? Ew, I don't want her man-hands on me!", "And dressing up like a hentai with plot is meant to be better? Let me show you what the Despair of The World really looks like."

Victory: "That battle-armour's pretty handy. It's nothing against being able to stop time though.", "Urgh! That's such a boring power though! Just looking at you makes me Despair."

 

JUDE/Pucci: "So Father, come to save the life of one of your flock?", "Our partnership is only temporary. I have little patience for your silver tongue."

Victory: "Come back to my place and I'll show you what this tongue can do. Won't be the worst sin you've committed, Pearla can attest to that.", "Your existence is the worst sin committed."

 

JUDE/Enya: "Lady JUDE! It seems some fools think they'll be the ones to kill you.", "Let them try, Enya! Let them try!"

Victory: "Well that was boring! Barely got anything out from that.", "Patience, Lady JUDE, for the Joestars will soon come and die by your hand!"

 

JUDE/Vanilla Ice: "Vanilla, just how devoted to me are you?", "I will turn these fools into corpses as a monument to my loyalty."

Victory: "My apologies, Lady JUDE. Cream devoured too much of them.", "Those screams and eyes were all I needed."

 

JUDE/Pet Shop: "Pet-Shop! Let's see if you'll be going in the oven tonight!", "*Screech*"

Victory: "*Screech*", "You're right. A good little beast of despair would never be eaten."

 

JUDE/N'Doul: "Come on, Ray Charles. Let's see if your Stand is better than your eyes!", "Anything for my saviour."

Victory: "You're calling Despair your saviour?", "Even us foul creatures need a prophet."

 

JUDE/Hol Horse: "Hol Horse, there's a spear with your ass' name on it if you fuck up.", "G-Got it, boss!"

Victory: "Huh. We won.", "Why do you sound so disappointed?!"

 

JUDE/Mariah: "JUDE, you want me to fight with you.", "Your's mind as sharp as those legs are fine."

Victory: "I'm so jealous. If I could, I'd take those legs and make them my own.", "I-I guess you can settle for the next best thing."

 

Vanilla Ice/Martha: "So you're the one Judith replaced me with.", "Your insults mean nothing. Lady JUDE has no need for a weakling like you when she has an army of followers."

Victory: "If you're so close, then how many times has she invited you to do what I do?", "...Damn you..."

 

N'Doul/Martha: "Lady JUDE's sister, I wonder if you're anything like her.", "Prepare to be disappointed."

Victory: "I may be dumber and uglier, but Judith and I are the only ones to understand one another.", "All this time...you still don't get it."

 

N'Doul/Junko: "We're working together? Don't you have a piano to play or something, Ray?", "She said you were just like her."

Victory: "Really?! I'm nothing like that old, screwed-up, man-lady!", "You saviours of evil know what to say without speaking a word."

 

N'Doul/Mukuro: "What do you see when you look at me?", "Ma'am, I'm just a blind man."

Victory: "Still think you can't answer that question?", "Fine, fine. I see doubt smothered by feelings most people would be committed for."

 

Saihara/Akamatsu: "Saihara, are you ready?", "Y-Yes!"

Victory: "We make a pretty good team, don't we?", "I've got your back if you've got mine."

 

Tenko/Akamatsu: "Don't worry, Akamatsu, Tenko will drive back any menace who tries to trouble you!", "Thanks Tenko!"

Victory: "You're pretty strong. Yumeno's so lucky to have a girl like you want to be her friend.", "Yes! That is what Tenko wants...friendship."

 

Iruma/Akamatsu: "Bakamatsu?! The fuck you think you can do? Those itty-bitty titties ain't good for shit!", "They're not small and learn to accept some help!"

Victory: "T-There's no need to be such a bitch. Just tryin' to warn you not to get in my way.", "Iruma, why are you so mean and yet such a coward?"

 

Saihara/Momota: "Shuichi, stay behind me! Sidekick's gotta have my back, but I'll take the heat.", "Momota! I'm helping no matter what."

Victory: "That's the spirit! Keep up your training and we'll be kicking ass together in no time!", "You say that and yet you don't train at all."

 

Saihara/Kiibo: "I'll need your help for this, Kiibo.", "Understood! I may not have a Stand, but I am fully-equipped for combat of this kind!"

Victory: "Wow, you really did have rocket-fists...kind-of.", "Please don't tell Ouma."

 

Saihara/Yumeno: "Naaa...Saihara, I kind of find it tiresome, but I guess we gotta fight.", "The important thing is that you're helping."

Victory: "I'll do better next time. Healing spells take up too much mana, so don't get hurt out there.", "Got it. But don't feel bad that you're not combat-focused."

 

Saihara/Harukawa: "Harukawa, we'll need to work together on this.", "I don't need support. I'll eliminate them alone."

Victory: "Sometimes back-up can help.", "If you insist on coming along."

 

Saihara/Ouma: "Ouma?! What are you doing-", "Nishsishi, I couldn't let my beloved Saihara fight alone! Now witness the power of my Stand! Rule The World!"

Victory: "That's not your Stand, is it, Ouma?", "Caught me again!"

 

Momota/Harukawa: "Harumaki! What are you doing here? It's not safe!", "You're telling the Ultimate Assassin to avoid a fight? You really are dumb."

Victory: "It's not that...I just don't wanna see you jump at the first sign of danger.", "...Idiot."

 

Momota/Ouma: "I can't believe we're doing this. This'd be a great time to say what your Stand can do.", "If Momota insists...my Stand lets me accelerate time."

Victory: "What the hell?! That's not time-acceleration! But just what was that?", "Guess Momota will have to keep guessing."

 

Tenko/Yumeno: "Yumeno! Stay back! Tenko will handle these menaces with ease!", "I'm not a baby animal. I can help too."

Victory: "See? Tenko, using her Neo-Aikido, did it!", "You're lucky I had those support-spells."

 

Angie/Yumeno: "Himiko! Let's work together and execute God's plan, okay?", "You got it, Angie."

Victory: "Yay! We won. And all thanks to believing in God.", "It's nice to have a cute guy look out for me."

 

Tsumugi/Junko: "I can't believe I'm working with THE Junko Enoshima!", "I have a fan? Of my despair-work? This should be fun."

Victory: "I can't wait for you to see my body-pillow of you!", "Kya! I just wanna adopt you, you little cutie!"

 

Kira/Shinguji: "If we're going to be working together, try to have some kind of cover.", "I disagree. I find that many admirable women are allured by my character."

Victory: "Thriller seems to get results. How do you even get away with your crimes?", "The secret is to be willing to abandon the idea of home as anything more than the one closest to your heart."

 

**WUH!IF**

 

JUDE/Matsuda: "You trying to play the part of the knight in shining armour?", "Shut up. I already hear enough of that screech as it is."

Victory: "You don't like my voice? Yasuke, you're a real heart-breaker.", "Like you haven't done worse in the last hour."

 

Pucci/Matsuda: "Are you a fellow associate of JUDE's?", "I was waiting to find someone who wasn't a cult-member."

Victory: "You truly think you can stop the devil from sinning?", "I thought that was what being God in Heaven was all about."

 

* * *

**VS Dialogue**

 

JUDE VS Jude: "Vampires? Don't you know those went out of style decades ago! It's all Stands baby!", "Is that-? I get to kill JoJo and myself?! No way am I missing this!"

JUDE Victory: "Zombies...what was I thinking? Now it's time for all of humanity to be swallowed by The World!"

Jude Victory: "You got slow, old-timer. Although...might as well see what all the fuss is about!"

 

JUDE VS Junko: "No Stands? No Vampirism? No luck!", "And because of all that, it'll be all the more despairing for you when I win!"

JUDE Victory: "This Despair...it's like nothing I've ever felt!"

Junko Victory: "Whether it's the 1880s or the 1980s, you're still out-of-date-trash! So tell a fellow Junko...where'd you find those Arrows?"

 

JUDE VS DIO: "You stole JoJo's body too? And have The World! Wow that actually makes it kind of disappointing.", "Fool! Your talent and The World is wasted on you. I, DIO, will snuff you out and clear all obstacles in my path!"

JUDE Victory: "Let me guess, you saw the way to Heaven too? Not even a shred of despair."

DIO Victory: "Useless! Useless! Useless! Only one person has the right to The World and it is I, DIO!"

 

JUDE VS Pucci: "JUDE, I will extinguish your life here and now." "I was wondering when you'd finally nut-up."

JUDE Victory: "Come back when you realise what I'm doing. Or fall into despair. Either's fine with me."

Pucci Victory: "The way to Heaven is just ahead. If I find it, then that's all I need."

 

Saihara VS Ouma: "Ouma, I need to know the truth.", "Sorry, Saihara, but a Supreme Leader like myself can't just give you the answer. Especially since I'll die if I stop lying even once!"

Saihara Victory: "I just want to understand...what are you up to? Why won't you let me find the truth?"

Ouma Victory: "Sorry, Saihara! Guess the detective fails to catch the thief again!"

 

Hoshi VS Toujou: "Hoshi, I have to be there for my people.", "I understand that. But here's the thing; I don't wanna die anymore."

Hoshi Victory: "I won't say how close you got, but the others need to know. Maybe cool your head for a bit."

Toujou Victory: "I'll make sure your death was worth something."

 

Tenko VS Angie: "Yonaga! Give Yumeno back to me!", "Sorry, Tenko, but Himiko and I need to follow God's will."

Tenko Victory: "I did it! Yumeno, you have to face the truth, please!"

Angie Victory: "Silly Tenko. Maybe a hug will cheer you up."

 

Ouma VS Momota: "Ouma! You got questions to answer!", "Nishishishi, Momota thinks he can stop me. I thought the hero stops the evil leader, not the sidekick."

Ouma Victory: "Always attacking without thinking. So bold...but that's a lie."

Momota Victory: "Asshole! Just tell the truth and say what you're planning!"

 

Ouma VS Harukawa: "Oh no! Harumaki's here and she's come to kill me!", "Did you just call me Harumaki?"

Ouma Victory: "Wow! My Stand really is amazing if even the Ultimate Assassin couldn't stop me!"

Harukawa Victory: "I caught the Mastermind. Now to end this."

 

Saihara VS Tsumugi: "Shirogane, we're done being fiction." "Saihara, this is cute, but it's time the weakest character got back to the script."

Saihara Victory: "Were you also designed to be this way?"

Tsumugi Victory: "Okay! Time to put Danganronpa back on track!"

 

Kirigiri VS Pucci: "So this is where the trail ends.", "Impressive. You discovered the truth behind Jolyne Cujoh's incarceration. But now your life must end."

Kirigiri Victory: "Highly intelligent, the Stand Whitesnake, and apparently he has allies. I'll need back-up."

Pucci Victory: "The journey to Heaven cannot be impeded."

 

Tenko VS Kira: "You...You're the worst kind of menace! Tenko will defeat you for justice!", "Who is this strange girl?"

Kira Victory: "Her hands...too calloused. I'll have Killer Queen dispose of her."

Tenko Victory: "Enter the Thirty-Six Chambers and come out a corpse! That's how Neo-Aikido handles menaces like you!"

 

Ouma VS Junko: "I can't believe it. To save the world I have to fight my bestie?!", "Nice try, kid, but you're nowhere near my level."

Ouma Victory: "Junko, you'll always be in my heart. But that's a lie."

Junko Victory: "Aww, don't worry, Baby Junko. I'll make sure to give your buddies all the despair you've just felt!"

 

Jotaro VS Hoshi: "Guess we have to fight, don't we?", "Unfortunately. How old are you anyway? Hard to tell if you're a high-schooler or a father."

Jotaro Victory: "You're telling me I look weird for my age? But yeah, I get that a lot."

Hoshi Victory: "Huh, guess you must be an old-timer. Even when stopping time, you didn't think ahead."

 

**IF!**

 

JUDE VS Martha: "Martha?! There's a world where you grew a spine?!", "A Stand...even if it's not yours...I have to be careful."

JUDE Victory: "That quickly? ...Disappointing."

Martha Victory: "She can stop time! She has JoJo's body? Judith, what have you been doing?"

 

JUDE VS Matsuda: "JUDE, there's no way I can save you. So that leaves me with only one option.", "Yasuke, you really think this is giving me despair?"

JUDE Victory: "More! More of this Despair! More Despair! Give it to me!"

Matsuda Victory: "Why did we have to meet?"

 

Matsuda VS Pucci: "I will save this world from the likes of JUDE, if you care about helping humanity reach Heaven, step aside.", "I'm not letting you near her. Not while I can still save her."

Matsuda Victory: "She can be saved...right?"

Pucci Victory: "Your delusions will not stop me."[/spoiler]

 

[Spoiler="Dual Heart Attacks"]JUDE/Junko: Junko uses her battle armour to fire multiple missiles at the opponent who tries to get away. JUDE stops time and both she and The World move behind them and break their legs. Time resumes and the opponent is sent flying towards the missiles, blown back, and into JUDE's out-stretched fist. The opponent is impaled and dies while Junko complains about JUDE kill-stealing.

 

JUDE/Jude: Jude fires Space Ripper Stingy Eyes at the opponent and the opponent dodges, only for Jude to then charge forward and prepare to freeze them alive, having planned to do so all along. Right before the head is frozen, JUDE stops time with The World and looks at the despair-filled eyes of the opponent, before then attacking with The World and sending their body flying into the sky, landing on their neck and breaking it. [/spoiler]


	14. Eleanor Rigby

**Arc Three: Dangan Crusaders**

****Chapter Ten: Eleanor Rigby** **

 

\---

 

It took five seconds for Jotaro Kujo to finally be noticed at the door.

 

"Oh, Jotaro." Kakyoin said. He hurriedly zipped up his suitcase. "I was just finishing up."

 

"You need a lot of stuff? It's not like we'll be in Cairo for long." He said. The most he was bringing was a change of shirt, socks, and a toothbrush.

 

_Enough to not look like a bum, not so much that we waste time._ Jotaro wasn't like the old man who was fussing over Walkman chargers and headphones. Who cared if they broke? The airport would have spares and it wasn't like he couldn't afford it.

 

But if he wanted to continue that argument, he wouldn't have ditched Gramps and gone over to see how the newest member of their group was doing.

 

Jotaro wasn't good at stuff like small talk or 'breaking the ice'. That was always his mother's skill when she tried to push him into being buddies with the other kids. It wasn't like he ever needed to be good at conversation. If someone wanted to be close to him, they'd be able to read the atmosphere and get it.

 

Besides, even though she could be a bit- Jotaro stopped himself, finding it harder to say when some cunt from halfway across the world was murdering her- he had his mother. It wasn't like he needed anyone else. Hell, he didn't even really have a father around but he didn't complain. The man had a passion and he needed to follow it.

 

Only some bratty kid would cry about that kind of stuff.

 

But it did mean that he didn't really know how to approach this kind of deal. 'Hey man, you sure you're fine with facing down the psycho who brainwashed you?' Like hell that'd go down like a charm.

 

Gramps and Avdol had finished packing a long time ago and they, along with Jotaro himself, had been waiting for Kakyoin to get ready too. They were in for a tough fight, but the journey itself was supposed to be simple. It was a flight to Egypt and then they'd be spending the next few days looking around for JUDE. It wasn't really hard to pack.

 

But it seemed that Kakyoin obviously had something on his mind. That, or he was a really goddamn slow packer.

 

Either way, rather than deal with Gramps fussing over his music player, Jotaro had volunteered to see what was taking so damn long. Now to actually find it out.

 

"I must have taken longer than I thought. Forgive me, I wasn't trying to bring excess." Kakyoin said. He had that look on his face. The one he tried to hide from the others when it was completely obvious.

 

That look of regret and blaming himself.

 

_Good grief, I don't know how to have these talks. That's for Mom to do._ Jotaro thus didn't say anything. It was Kakyoin's business and he'd wait for Kakyoin to either say something or get moving. Neither of them said a word and just stared. Jotaro's expression didn't flinch one bit, while Kakyoin was doing his best to not meet his eyes.

 

Was he scared or something? It wasn't like it was going to get easier from-

 

"JUDE didn't brainwash me. Not entirely." Kakyoin said. Jotaro's eyes widened slightly.

 

"Gramps said those flesh-buds totally hijacked-"

 

"They could of. I could sense that they were infecting my brain and manipulating me somewhat, but it was more than just those. They were held back so she could do it herself." Kakyoin explained. He didn't need to clarify who he was talking about. "She spoke to me. She whispered poison into my ear and I welcomed it."

 

"How'd she do it? Must have been pretty convincing to make you pull the crap you did in that state." Jotaro didn't soften his voice. Maybe he was sounding too rough. He wasn't used to this kind of stuff.

 

"She has the skill that all cult-leaders vie for. The power to convince someone that their deepest desires was actually to serve them." Kakyoin looked down at the floor in shame. As if it was his fault he got brainwashed. "Or at least align them together. She made me think that this world was stupid and beneath me. That I did not stand alone but above it. That I had a right to do what I wished to whoever I wished."

 

"How did that lead to rambling on about despair and suffering?" Jotaro asked. He heard enough of that 'despair' crap to last a lifetime already and that was just a flunky.

 

"JUDE told me that was what the world revolved around. Hope and Despair. Both in an endless cycle designed by fate." Kakyoin said. "She said of how Hope created a boring world where everything and everyone was in a harmony. A harmony that excluded me. Despair, on the other hand, brought about chaos and change. The only way to break free from fate itself. A perfect opportunity for someone like me to claim what was rightfully theirs.

 

"I won't deny it. It also felt...good. As if all of my burdens were lifted and I was free. It was like I could be free all my burdens and problems and yet also never actually confront them. Perhaps that is how drug-addicts feel when they take their poison. Perhaps that's the root of all addiction."

 

He sighed to himself as if remembering a bad memory. Considering this was JUDE, that was probably every memory involving her.

 

"She had the body of a powerful warrior and the face of a beautiful maiden. Her hair was in a childish twintail fashion and her voice changed every other moment but that didn't matter. All that mattered was her voice and the words she spoke. I couldn't help but nod along and give myself to her. I gave her everything." Kakyoin stopped for a moment. Jotaro let him take his time; especially since it saved him from having to say anything. "She stole everything about me and I gave it with a smile. In turn, I let myself become a monster.

 

"I wonder what my parents would think if they knew what I was thinking on the plane ride back. What I wanted to do to the people on that plane...to them...?"

 

Jotaro remembered the fight with Kakyoin. He remembered the guy taking some kind of sick joy in slicing at Jotaro's legs and arranging some bizarre death. He remembered all that crap he pulled. It wasn't something Jotaro could forget that easily; even if he'd already forgiven Kakyoin for it.

 

But that was nothing compared to what his brainwashed-self had done to the nurse.

 

He made her into a flesh-puppet with which to do all the work while he stayed safe. Scars all along the arms and legs and face; not even half of what she did to those two guys. All for the crime of having been in the way. Kakyoin back then acted like he was so close to getting off on it that a few more scars would make him climax.

 

Going by that, JUDE seemed to be into some sadistic kind of shit. Then, using the flesh-bud, she made Kakyoin into a similar kind of psycho. Nothing more than an extension of her own will and personality.

 

If that was meant to be kind of truth about him, then either Kakyoin right now was the world's greatest liar, or JUDE was full of crap.

 

_He doesn't look like he had fun doing it. More like a guy who woke up and realised he just did a terrible crime. Yeah, like it was the worst thing possible he could have been forced into._ Jotaro didn't know what he was supposed to say. He wasn't cut out for pep-talks or being positive. How was he supposed to help Kakyoin?

 

Was he supposed to repeat what they all knew? Gramps had said it himself; this was a woman who had unnatural charisma. Sure, he added dumb details about the story like Jack the Ripper working for her, but the rest of it made sense. Or at least, he didn't have a reason to doubt her. She had the power to look at a man and figure out his strengths and weaknesses in a moment. She could easily calculate the right points to hit.

 

For example, tricking a guy she half-lobotomised into thinking he was the same kind of trash as her.

 

"If that crap you pulled was what you wanted, then you're doing a good job of suggesting it wasn't. You're not even that good at pretending that flesh-bud didn't mess your brain up, although now I'm thinking I forgot to pull some of it out, with all that self-pity." Jotaro turned his back and made his way back towards the door. He only looked back once. "Quit beating yourself up over what JUDE did. We haven't got time for you to ask whether you're a piece of shit or not. Right now, we need to get to Cairo and take JUDE down and we're doing it with or without you."

 

Kakyoin didn't say anything. In fact, he turned his head away from Jotaro and looked at the suitcase opposite. Jotaro had no idea if he cheered him up or if he just chucked petrol onto a fire.

 

Damn it. Jotaro wasn't cut out for motivational speeches or stuff like that. Normally, in the movies, people just needed a slap in the face or a few rough words and they'd be up for the fight. They'd be blubbering wrecks one minute and then up for a fight the next.

 

Turns out people didn't work out like that.

 

Jotaro, however, saw Kakyoin's back stiffen and whatever fear or self-blame he had inside had now apparently washed away.

 

"Yes...yes, you're right," Kakyoin replied, as Jotaro inwardly sighed in relief. He didn't fuck it up. "I let myself be seduced by own self-pity. If I want to regain my self-respect and pride, I should be looking forward and getting ready for the fight ahead."

 

"Gramps and Avdol will be waiting outside. Don't take too long." Jotaro said. He left the room and made his way back to the others, just barely hearing Kakyoin's voice.

 

"Jotaro," Kakyoin whispered. Jotaro tried to pick up the pace, but still heard those next words. "You face down these troubles without even blinking. There's seemingly no weakening in your resolve. I wish I could have that strength. Just as if I could marry any woman, I'd want it to be a woman like Mrs Joestar-"

 

To anyone who couldn't see Stands, all they'd probably see was the side of Kakyoin's door slightly splinter.

 

What Kakyoin saw was the upset face of Star Platinum glaring daggers at him, while Jotaro did his best to get the full 10m away from him so his Stand could go away too. To have his Stand go crazy, just because Kakyoin said something really stupid, was more than embarrassing.

 

"J-Jotaro?! I didn't think you were still so close!" Kakyoin shouted. He started back-tracking. "I didn't mean I was in love with your mother! I was just thinking about how she calmed people's hearts and wishing to protect that kind of smile."

 

_Good grief._ Jotaro called off Star Platinum. It seemed his Stand was still a bit of a free-spirit. He knew what he meant, but the phrasing still pissed him off.  _Kakyoin, for your sake, that woman better come along quick._

 

\---

 

How long had it been since JUDE had a nice and long conversation with JoJo?

 

"What do you think, Lord Jonathan Joestar?" JUDE asked teasingly. She giggled against the surface of the skull. "I suppose that title belongs to your grandson now. Not that he ever uses it."

 

JUDE was laying down on her bed in the middle of her bedroom.

 

Not the main bedroom, but instead the hidden one where only JUDE was allowed to rest in. Her very own personal room with which she could truly be free. The bedroom that had its entrance forbidden to all but herself. The bedroom with its pink walls, posters of current singers and movie stars, make-up kits, and lots of other girly things. A place for JUDE to unwind and be a girl.

 

It was the room where she also kept JoJo's skull for when she just wanted to be alone and talk with him.

 

"Enya's handling the assassins. She even has her son on the case," JUDE said, before letting out a bored exhale of breath. "But we both know he'll die. Maybe he'll take out one of my enemies, but he'll die nonetheless. Then that's when things'll get fun. Assuming they even make it to India."

 

"Judith, they will make it to fight you. They carry in them the Joestar blood! Their companions too are of strong hearts. Together, they will never fall to your slaves." JoJo cried out. His voice had that same strength and passion as ever.

 

"Strong hearts? Them?!" JUDE asked, looking at him as if he grew his head back again. The thought made her burst out laughing.

 

Was she meant to quiver in fear of friendless Kakyoin or stupid Polnareff? Those two weren't anything more than pests to crush with her boot! They hadn't even been that hard to bring into Despair! And these were people who JoJo thought had strong hearts that could withstand her Despair this time?!

 

_Says the guy who thought Speedwagon was a trustworthy best friend._ JUDE remembered the crawl up her spine when she heard about the Speedwagon Foundation. The guy died a billionaire!  _Urgh, I can't believe someone so pitiful and weak died like that. Total bummer._

 

"Speedwagon did not have my strength or Mister Zeppeli's experience. That is true," JoJo said. "But he still carried Hope within him! An indisputable sense of right and wrong that made sure I didn't fall for your tricks back at the mansion. He saved me from the Stone Mask."

 

JUDE wondered how exactly JoJo had figured that one out. He'd kept a good poker-face about it all those decades ago, but he seemed to realise what she intended. Had Martha let it slip in that speech in the Chamber of the Dual-Headed Dragon?

 

That had been the plan when she came in. Unlike Martha, she knew JoJo would have made it back in time to catch them before they could try anything. The same with the police ambush. The only thing she hadn't expected was Speechwagon.

 

The plan had been simple. Fake some tears, pull JoJo in, and then shove the Mask into him with some blood. Then she would have her own vampire to feed on the police and his own father! He'd think himself a monster, if he had any conscience left, and then it'd be him and the Despair Sisters.

 

Would he have somehow resisted temptation? Would he have recognised them or hated them? JUDE had wondered what being eaten by JoJo could have been like.

 

Or maybe she'd have used the Stone Mask herself and they'd all be vampires together.

 

"Then again, having two or three vampires is boring. We'd have just won and lived life in a world of zombies." JUDE mused to herself. Unfortunately, JoJo was right there to eavesdrop on her.

 

"You underestimated the power of humanity. Even now, you lack faith." He scolded. JUDE was being treated like a five year old having a sulk over not getting the latest toy!

 

"Your grandson's Ripple ain't what it used to be. Kujo's the only enigma and he isn't exactly you." She said. If she was going to be treated like a sulk, she'd sulk all she liked, although not above a sceptical look. "You really think they'll be like you? All defiant and noble and acting like they're from a story-book? I don't think I could stand a double-act of paragons of goodness and Hope."

 

"Then there is still time. Still time for you to stop this and lift your curse from Holly and the boy." JoJo pleaded. He was always having Hope that she'd turn back and change her ways.

 

"Nice try, JoJo, but that's not gonna work. I've got no intention of just sitting and waiting to succeed." JUDE made a toothy grin and held JoJo against her breast as she laughed to herself. "Upupupu. If I'm going to tear down Heaven, I'm going to need Joestar blood to do it. The only thing better would be seeing them spit on your legacy and know that anything worthwhile about the Joestar bloodline died with you."

 

"Then you'll be disappointed!" JoJo roared. His voice swelled again and inspirational music might as well have been as he made his speech. "For Joseph and Jotaro may be crass and not the perfect gentlemen, but they are the true heirs to the Joestar name! Their Hope will inspire their friends and others to rise up and fight you. It will see them through their trials and bring them to your doorstep with every intention to fight. Once again, Judith, you'll face the power of human tenacity and Hope and your Despair will be destroyed by it!"

 

"We'll see about that, JoJo! We'll see about that!" JUDE ended the conversation there. Gently placing JoJo by her bedside, she cackled to herself and left her private quarters.

 

She embrace the darkness and mystery of her main bedroom. It was a nice place to lay down and sleep or to lay down and have sex with people. It killed the mood for most people who either weren't completely enveloped by her presence or who weren't already hypnotised.

 

It was easier to use tools that were hypnotised. Having them as food was boring.

 

JUDE spared a glance at the sleeping woman in her bed. She had thought about using her as a tool, but instead chose to ditch it for the night. She'd have Enya dump her on the gutter and be done with it. JoJo was enough for her tonight.

 

She laid down on the bed and pushed the covers away. It was always so good to hear from him after a while of silence. Somehow, despite the lack of company, his spirits were up as if he'd never been left in the first place. He'd been the same in the coffin!

 

It'd been so long since she had a true opposite. Pucci was the only one and even he had the flaws of pride and a reliance on fate. But JoJo? JoJo was pure. JoJo was Hope. JoJo was her exact counterpart and JUDE loved every minute of testing herself against him.

 

_And he's much cheerier than the other JoJo. So boring._ JUDE could even see his disappointing figure now.

 

Rather than just his skull, it was his whole body standing tall. He often stood by the window or by the darkest bits of the wall and just stared at her. That was all he did.

 

No big speeches or shows of defiance. No real reactions to her evil deeds. He just stood there and looked at her with those same eyes as always.

 

Those eyes filled with pity and sadness.

 

JUDE ignored the ghost easily. It might have been harder if she didn't have the better version of JoJo in her room. It was so much better to talk with JoJo when he actually responded and fought against her. She could even bring out an array of personalities and he'd have a different reaction for each one!

 

He wasn't boring either. That was the most important thing of all.

 

\---

 

Enya howled in pain and agony.

 

It was not simply the pain of multiple holes opening in her face and spewing blood out from them. Oh, it was agonising on its own, but not enough for Enya to feel the pain in her heart. This was not merely the sensation of feeling her son's pain through their connection as family.

 

Those wounds could only come from one kind of wound. The very wound Enya felt in the depths of her heart!

 

"My precious son..." Enya looked up at the sun and screamed from the top of her lungs. "These were the wounds which killed you! The wounds I feel...the pain I feel...it was the same pain you felt as you died, isn't it?"

 

The cat continued its foul hissing as it regarded Enya with anger and fright. The two emotions were swirling inside it as it did not know if Enya would strike it down or if she was a dying threat. Normally, she'd have shooed it away.

 

But not now! Not when she was mourning for him.

 

"You were magnificent when fighting for Lady JUDE's cause, J Geil! You were one of her finest followers." Enya said, before she collapsed onto the ground. "But to have taken away your pure soul from this earth...they must have done something truly underhanded."

 

"Is that so, Enya?" Lady JUDE's voice echoed in the air.

 

Enya knew she should have turned to see her master waiting by one of the walls. It was the place she called home, after all, and she must have been disturbed by Enya's howls. She should have explained herself, even if Lady JUDE surely knew the truth.

 

But Enya could not help it! She could not stop her tears! Her heart had been broken in a thousand fragments and all the emotions inside it were pouring out.

 

The only reason Enya moved was because she saw how close Lady JUDE was to the light.

 

_You must stand back! You have not yet found a way to conquer the sunlight!_ Enya could not speak. Words were beyond her right now. She instead crawled over to where JUDE stood and looked up at her, whilst JUDE crouched so as to look her in the eye.

 

"These wounds...this must have been the work of Polnareff. Ah, I did say he would be allowed to avenge his sister...but through this?" Lady JUDE hummed as she ran her finger through the holes in Enya's face. She pulled Enya in closer to what was almost a hug. "Do you feel it? That empty abyss that is swallowing you whole? The very foundations of your peace of mind crumbling before you?"

 

For a brief second, Enya expected words of comfort or sorrow from Lady JUDE. Instead, the woman's tone sharpened and her eyes were blank. So different from her usual whirlwind of emotion.

 

"You weep over the corpse of a killer, just because he was your son?" She asked, making Enya's heart stop. "You want to avenge him. Is that not what Polnareff felt for his sister? Why is your anger justified and not his? What use have I for those who die?"

 

Enya would never allow her son to be insulted.

 

For a brief fraction of a moment, her soul had a spark of anger for Lady JUDE herself. J Geil was perhaps one of her first true disciples apart from Enya herself! How could Lady JUDE find it in her heart to ignore his service and mock Enya for her tears? Did she not see the pain in her heart?

 

Then she felt it.

 

Lady JUDE was licking her face.

 

To be specific, she was licking the wounds left by Polnareff and the tears gushing down her face. There was a gleam in Lady JUDE's eye and it was almost like when she was feeding off the women and men Enya and the others would gather. As if she was intoxicated on Enya's very essence.

 

"Be grateful that your Despair is so wonderful. It somehow even makes this mixture of salt and blood all over your haggard and wrinkled face delicious." Lady JUDE said. Enya felt shame for her anger now, as she remembered one important thing about her master.

 

Lady JUDE was not a normal woman.

 

For her, capable of comprehending the pull of gravity on one's soul to near-perfection, pain and pleasure were reversed. To suffer was bliss and to feel bliss was suffering. The despair that alleviated her boredom was her hope. Against all other humans in this world, her values and nature were the complete opposite.

 

When she spat on J Geil's sacrifice, she was trying to make Enya feel anger and drink it in, and then add it to her own pain. The pain of losing someone so devout and willing to obey her. Enya's pain for her son must have been like wine to a connoisseur!

 

"Lady JUDE," Enya hissed the words into her ears. "I will avenge my son and give Polnareff and all those who had a hand in my son's death a terrible death."

 

"Yes...turn that despair into power. Turn that despair into your hope and use it to destroy the Joestars. Come on, are you just going to let them piss over J Geil's service and deeds by making it here?" Lady JUDE threw her hands away from Enya and stood tall. In her eyes was a look of absolute delight.

 

"Never!" Enya screeched as she leapt into the air. Landing on the ground, she used the moment to push herself forward and towards the battle to come! "Damn them! Damn them all!"

 

Her back burst with blood as further wounds were added and the cat from before hissed yet again and refused to move from its spot.

 

"Out of my way!" Enya barked as she slammed the side of her walking stick against the cat's head. The feline was sent flying into the arms of Lady JUDE.

 

Enya made no mind to the crunching sound behind her. Lady JUDE could never have enough blood, after all.

 

"Those bastards! I will make them pay. The Empress and the Wheel of Fortune will handle them! I shall go and see for it myself. And if not," Enya felt her right eye twitch and the lust for revenge giving her even more strength. "Then I will deliver Justice onto them!"

 

Enya cried out in sorrow for her sweet and innocent son who had been murdered. She howled in anger for his killers who were advancing on Lady JUDE intending to kill her. She even screamed in joy at the thought of taking her revenge.

 

"I'm so sad!" Enya wailed, putting her hands over her face. But when she removed them, there was nothing but a bright smile on her face! "I shall kill them all!"

 

Lady JUDE's laughter boomed across the courtyard and washed over her back. "Yes, Enya! Your soul is pure like your son's. Full of determination to live a content life for yourself and those you care about," Lady JUDE said. "The Despair you brought to others pleased me. But seeing the Despair you're in now?! If only I could be there with you! Go forth, my devoted follower, and bring about that very same Despair to the Joestars!"

 

It was true that Lady JUDE was mad. Enya herself did not quite understand her plans for shaping the world to her whims, But there was one thing she did not and that was that she also had the power, will, and charisma to change this world! She was one who could change the course of history.

 

Enya only had Lady JUDE left. The two could trust one another fully and Enya knew Lady JUDE had no doubts in her loyalty. After all, hadn't Enya been the one to explain the Stand Arrows to Lady JUDE in the first place?

 

Because of that, she would not allow the Joestars or their allies to even get close to Cairo! None of them would be leaving India alive if Enya had anything to do about it!

 

She would avenge her son and would help Lady JUDE create the world she envisioned.

 

She would be the one to witness the new world for herself.

 

\---

 

JUDE could always sense it when the Joestars had defeated another one of her servants.

 

This time, it was Empress and Joseph had finally started using his Ripple more often. It seemed that the old man wasn't just the navigator of his group after all.

 

_So it didn't completely die off in you._ JUDE remembered the first time she'd seen Joseph Joestar. She had been distracted by the fact that he actually looked his age.  _Maybe I forgot how unusual our kind of muscles are. You still got old quick._

 

Still, she knew he'd make it through her assassins. JUDE even knew that the odds of her servants actually succeeding were a lot shorter any of them would have been comfortable accepting. It wouldn't be too long until they'd make their way to even the Nine Egyptian Gods and fight them too.

 

Gravity itself was pulling the Joestars closer to her. Anything in their way was fated to be cast aside for when the final battle would commence. It would only be in Cairo that their numbers would actually start to drop. Polnareff may have been fooled, but JUDE knew that the fortune-teller lived.

 

JUDE knew this because she knew of the Stands and character of both her underlings and the Joestars themselves. With merely that knowledge, JUDE could predict so much of their journey before they even realised what was happening. It'd be a useful tactic if it didn't bore her so much.

 

Joseph's attempts at using Hermit Purple to learn about her location had backfired. The last time they tried it, JUDE herself managed to turn it around and send her regards to them instead. She wondered if any of them thought of the implications or remembered the vines she used.

 

She only used Joseph's Stand once. It had been when they got on the airplane and thought it'd be a simple journey from Japan to Egypt.

 

But she only used it that one time. She couldn't break her own rules of only using the powers of The World that she had right now.

 

If it had to be used to add a bit more of a challenge to the Joestars, especially when they looked to be taking the easy way, then that was fine. The game had to be balanced. If JUDE used it too many times, however, then there wasn't any point to the game and it'd just ruin the fun of seeing the Joestars fight their way forward.

 

The fun of them robbing them of victory.

 

Still, her assassins had been disappointing in their lack of success. Even Hol Horse's cowardice was mind-numbingly predictable. It seemed to fall to Enya to provide her with some entertainment in her battle against the Joestars. She was the next of those who would be fighting against them.

 

If she lost...then the price of failure would be taken.

 

JUDE had wondered if she made a mistake. She had expected these people to be deadlier than they were! She had hoped it'd be more of a challenge, at least costing Joseph another hand or Kakyoin his eyes, but instead it seemed that only their Stands interested her.

 

The users themselves were just showing themselves to be only good for sacrifices. Only that was now impossible since the Joestars kept retiring them.

 

But it was all worth it. All for one simple reason.

 

JUDE's minions were still testing the Joestars. They thought outside the box, they showed new abilities to their Stands, and all of them were slowly getting sharper and stronger. If her assassins could be effective killers, then they'd at least make decent training tools.

 

At this rate, it would be just like at the castle in Windknight's Lot all over again. She would have her epic battle between Despair and Hope once more and this time it would have Stands. All of Cairo would be a stage for their final showdown.

 

JoJo, the only one to have defied JUDE's analysis, had managed to defeat her. But she in turn defeated him on the ship and took his body. She had learnt to adore her older brother for all he did for her despair, but now she had more Joestars to fight. More Joestars with actual potential!

 

She prayed that they would surpass their current limits and even JoJo. She wanted them all to be ready to fight their hardest against her and with everything she had. They definitely didn't have his personality, she wanted them to have the same kind of burning determination as JoJo.

 

_So then the moment before you die, your eyes will fill with a Despair that I could never make JoJo feel._ JUDE felt a joyful despair grow inside her at the thought of it.  _And I will Despair for losing a worthy opponent like that._

 

JUDE was shaking with anticipation as she waited to see how this latest battle would turn out. Would Enya pull off a victory against the odds and snuff out the world's last Hope? Or would she fall like the others and JUDE's enemies would be one step closer to reaching her.

 

It was so soon and yet too long for her to just sit and wait!

 

_But that doesn't mean I can't play with them some more. Maybe it's time I introduced a little friend, before they deal with Enya._ JUDE had been waiting to re-introduce the little guy to the Joestars. This was the perfect opportunity too!

 

She knew exactly who to send as well.

 

\---

 

The teddy bear was just out in the open, sat on its butt, and didn't make a single movement. It was just sat in the middle of the road and staring at them with those empty eyes of its. If the design alone hadn't been creepy enough, it just had to just rest there.

 

After the last few weeks, somehow this was one of the more bizarre things Joseph Joestar had seen yet, and for one simple reason.

 

"I-I-Is that some kind of toy?" Joseph could barely get the words out. It was almost too strange. "I recognise it from somewhere."

 

"What kind of messed-up toy store did you go to, gramps?" Jotaro muttered. He looked down at the teddy-bear dismissively.

 

To which the bear suddenly glared and leapt to its feet. It shook an arm angrily at Jotaro and its cheeks had turned red.

 

"Hey, I'm not a toy!" The teddy-bear cried out.

 

The bear was talking. The bear was standing on its own two feet. The bear was shaking its fist like an old man whose front porch had been defaced by some teenagers!

 

"Oh my god!" Joseph screamed, his hands on his cheeks. "The bear! It's haunted! Some kind of ghost has possessed it!"

 

"Is it a Stand of some kind?" Polnareff asked, Silver Chariot appearing behind him. Joseph prepared Hermit Purple and Jotaro did the same with Star Platinum. The only one who didn't was Kakyoin who threw out his arm.

 

"No. Wait. Jotaro, don't you recognise that voice?" He asked, before pointing a finger at the bear. "It's Doraemon!"

 

"Huh? What do you mean?" Polnareff asked. He seemed as confused as Joseph was. What the hell was a Doraemon?

 

"Jotaro, didn't you ever read the manga or watch the show?" Kakyoin asked, as if Jotaro should have recognised the voice immediately. Joseph's grandson just dipped his hat over his eyes.

 

"I didn't watch that kind of crap when I was a kid. But there was always those toys of that stupid cat stuffed in my room." He replied, while Kakyoin turned to Joseph.

 

"Mister Joestar, Doraemon is a popular character in Japan right now. He's a robotic cat sent from the 23rd century by descendants of a boy who was bullied and had poor grades to help improve his life. He'd use all sorts of gadgets to help." Kakyoin explained. Joseph did not understand any of that, and wasn't sure he ever would because it sounded fucking insane, but paid more attention to the look his friend gave the bear. "And yet this creature shares his voice."

 

"Hey, that lousy cat was from the future! That means he's the one who stole my voice!" The bear insisted. He pointed to himself with his little thumb and declared, "And I'm not just any creature. I'm a Monokuma!"

 

"Mono...kuma?" Polnareff and Joseph seemed to be on a special wavelength today. Wasn't Kuma a Japanese word?

 

Joseph didn't have time for this. This was clearly the work of an enemy Stand. "Whatever it is, this Stand's user is probably nearby. We'll have to be on our toes if we want to-"

 

"This is unbear-able!" Monokuma screamed. He waved his arms violently and hissed. "I'm not a Stand. I'm not a TV character. I'm Monokuma. Get it wrong again and I'll rip out your jaws with but a strike of my paw." As he finished speaking, metal claws pierced out from his paws.

 

That blood-lust pouring from the teddy-bear. That desire to not only kill, but to lavish in the act itself! Joseph recognised that very addiction to suffering and despair. That was why the bear had felt so familiar! Like the pain from a scar being torn open, the memories came flooding back to him!

 

"Of course! I remember you now! The stories from Speedwagon and Grandma Erina!" Joseph said. He glared down at the bear, knowing who was really speaking to them. "Is this how you wish to speak to us? Through mockery and disguises?! How is it that you're doing this, JUDE!"

 

"JUDE?" Kakyoin asked. He froze on the spot and stared at Monokuma in confusion. No doubt was he wondering how this was possible.

 

Joseph was wondering the same. Was it a phone? A radio? Or was this yet again JUDE manipulating Hermit Purple to her own ends somehow.

 

"This bear was a disguise JUDE would give to those children and babes she zombified. It was a sick joke from when she'd give disease-ridden toys to the youths!" Joseph explained for him. He then returned to JUDE. "And now you're here to mock us?!"

 

"Huh? You know JUDE?" Monokuma 'asked', putting a paw to the chin. It seemed JUDE was playing dumb. "What has that girl been doing? Blaming us for her own actions. Still, she was friends with our tribe in England." The bear sniffed and wiped the same paw against its eye on the white side. "Before you dreaded Joestars wiped us out."

 

"What is this shit?" Jotaro growled. Monokuma, or rather JUDE in that same voice, merely laughed in reply.

 

"The Monokuma have always lived on this planet. JUDE was simply the first human to discover us," Monokuma then began to tell whatever tale JUDE thought they'd actually buy. "It was hard for us to fully trust her at first. She had to prove herself! She helped hunt and cook our dreaded foes; the harlequin Great Dane! And in turn, she taught of us Despair and the wonders it could bring."

 

Joseph grinded his teeth. Did they have to stand here and listen to the ramblings of that damn bear?! Couldn't they do something about it? At the very least, they shouldn't just have to be a captive audience to JUDE's insane story-telling.

 

Maybe if he hit this Monokuma with Hermit Purple. Yes! He could use the clairvoyance to then track JUDE's location and discover more about it.

 

"It looks like none of you fools are gonna listen to me. You just wanna paw-n me off and be on your way." Monokuma said. Somehow, the bear's face darkened. "All without helping your sweet Holly Kujo."

 

Joseph's train of thought less stopped and more crashed. A similar amount of shock was shared by the rest of the group as they looked at the bear with differing expressions. Some were shocked at the words and others (mostly Jotaro) were glaring down at the bear, ready to tear it to shreds.

 

_Help Holly? What does she mean?_ Joseph had to be careful. He had to remember what Speedwagon and Granny Erina said about her long ago, back when Joseph was being told stories of his grandfather.  _She lies and only knows how to hurt. A monster like none other. I can't trust her words. No matter how tempting they are. No! Because of how tempting it is._

 

He didn't get a chance to deliberate further.

 

His grandson kicked his foot forward and shoved Monokuma's back to the ground. He ground the heel against the bear and seemed ready to have Star Platinum come out and tear its foot through the bear itself.

 

"Explain."

 

"So mean! I mean, this is pretty exciting, don't get me wrong, but no wonder you're the terror of your school," Monokuma cried out pitifully and with a vomit-inducing blush. Only for its evil smile to return in an instant. "Lady JUDE has grown bored of this game of cat and mouse. She has better things to do! So she sent the High Ambassador of the Monokuma Tribe to speak with you and give you a deal."

 

"A deal?! You think we'll accept a deal from her? After all she's done? After Avdol's death?" Polnareff hissed. Joseph looked away at that last question.

 

"Exactly! Why keep going for the honey when there's so many bees? Just go for the salmon of the river!" Monokuma said. "JUDE will send over a holy man to tear Holly's Stand away and she will live in perfect health. Why, leave today, and you can see it for yourself!"

 

"I-Impossible! There's no way someone can do that!" Joseph said. It couldn't be! What kind of power could rid someone of a Stand? It may have been forced by JUDE's own power, but it was still a Stand. Surely the only way to stop it would be to cut off the source?

 

"Even if we said yes, there's a catch." Jotaro said. Monokuma quickly shook its head.

 

"No catch. Just do the obvious. After all, everyone but the straggler went on this journey to save Holly, didn't they? She's the only reason for all this! Jotaro wanted his Mama to be okay and Joseph wanted to be a good Daddy. Even Kakyoin wanted some MILF-points and Polnareff got his revenge. The only one who had something more was Avdol and now he's dead! Take the deal and it's an early win for everything. Upupu." It said giggling. "So just vow to me that you'll abandon your quest and return to Japan. You will tell me that you will let JUDE live her life in peace and that she may do whatever she likes, so long as it does not affect the Joestar family."

 

Joseph wasn't an idiot. He knew the obvious catch in this little deal. They'd go home to Holly and live their days out in some kind of relative peace without having to battle JUDE. If she wasn't lying to buy herself time to fully adjust to Jonathan Joestar's body, then Holly would live and be in perfect health again.

 

But then there would be no one to stop her. No one to stop JUDE in whatever it was she planned. The entire world's fate would rest on the whims of a woman without mercy or kindness. She could bring the whole world into despair with the freedom and time given to her by this deal.

 

Not only that, but it'd be an open admission that everyone here just cared about their own problems. That they didn't care about the world or anything other than saving Holly and, in Polnareff's case, avenging murdered siblings.

 

They'd sacrifice everything that Jonathan, Speedwagon, Granny Erina, Caesar, Joseph's mother Lisa Lisa, and countless more had fought to protect. They just throw it all away for their own gain.

 

Even their very self-respect.

 

_But if it's to save Holly...what kind of father would I be to deny it immediately?_ Joseph asked himself. He looked to the others and almost began to doubt in himself.  _Can I simply tell Jotaro that we should risk her life for the sake of the world? Avdol...if only you were still here. If he could see the truth, then maybe Polnareff wouldn't feel as if we were dropping in numbers-_

 

Joseph's thoughts were yet again interrupted by the actions of his grandson.

 

Monokuma, who'd been standing tall and laughing at the conundrum, was now shaking its tiny arms and legs in protest. It was even openly whining and crying to itself about this 'sudden act of violence'. Not that the person holding it cared.

 

Or rather, not that the Stand Star Platinum cared.

 

"Hey, violence against the ambassador violates diplomatic rules! Let go! I can't bear it any longer. Come on, you guys? Isn't this polarising?!"

 

"Shut up." Jotaro commanded. He pulled the bear in until it was face to face with Star Platinum. "JUDE, I don't know what you thought this was meant to do to us, but I have a tip." His Stand tightened its grip and the sound of crunching metal echoed across the area. Jotaro, meanwhile, hardened his glare. "The next time you want us to back off, maybe try admitting that you're shitting yourself with fear. Not that it'll do anything to make us stop, but it'd be honest."

 

"I guess it's time for Plan B." Monokuma faked a sad tone, but Joseph could sense the menacing impression it gave off. Add on the ticking noise and...

 

It was a bomb!

 

"Jotaro!" Joseph shouted, but his grandson was already on the job.

 

"ORA!" Star Platinum roared as it then delivered a by-now familiar barrage of punches against the toy. "Oraoraoraoraoraora!"

 

It threw right punches, left punches, up, down, and just about every direction possible. It fists flew at light-speed and a familiar barrage of blows soon pummelled Monokuma from its usual bear shape to a small cubic mess of white and black fur. There was almost nothing left of it!

 

With a final battle-cry, Star Platinum slammed a fierce uppercut to the Monokuma and sent it flying into the sky! Joseph could only compared to when a professional baseball thrower used all his might to get a strike on the batter. The Monokuma, however, was flying at even quicker speeds!

 

In the sky, almost too distant to hear, was the sound of a distant explosion.

 

"Good grief." Jotaro said. He leaned back slightly and turned his head to face Joseph. "Gramps, you the kinda guy who bitches about hitting women?"

 

"It's what we've been travelling to do, so I expect you know the answer." Joseph replied.

 

Kakyoin sighed and shook his head. "It seems that JUDE still wishes to play games with us. It's a good thing you were there, Jotaro." He said smiling.

 

"Let's just go already." Jotaro said, dipping his hat over his eyes.

 

Joseph and the others went on their way again. This time, however, they moved with that much more determination. That much more desire to bring JUDE to justice. They wouldn't let her have her way, nor would they let her tempt them into surrender.

 

They would save Holly. They would save her without making a deal too!

 

_Holly, you'll survive this curse, I swear it._ Joseph looked forward without any weakness or unease. He abandoned any thought of ditching their mission to kill JUDE.  _So keep fighting, and we'll do the same for you._

 

\---

 

In a dark room, a monitor that had been showing what the eyes of Monokuma saw was now entirely filled with static. It was completely useless now.

 

Despite this, JUDE leaned back in her seat, shoved the microphone away and laughed to herself.

 

"Jotaro Kujo," She said, tasting the name in her mouth. "That cool-guy act may impress all the kids in school, hell, it may be a chance of pace. But I'm going to enjoy it all the more when I make you watch your grandfather and friends die. I wonder what kind of face you'll make when that happens? Will you cry or will you laugh? I just can't wait!"


	15. Don't Let Me Down

**Arc Three: Dangan Crusaders**

 

****Chapter Eleven: Don't Let Me Down** **

 

 

\---

 

So that was it.

 

Enya had just been killed by the flesh-buds inside her head.

 

JUDE had murdered the woman who'd been her confidant for so long.

 

The vampire who had stood so strong and tall collapsed onto her knees and threw her hands over her face at the realisation. It didn't matter that it clashed with the image her minions had of her. No one else was around, as she'd been in her bedroom when it happened. There was no one else to see her like this.

 

She sensed her flesh-buds burning in the sun but knew it made no difference. Enya did not have much time left and the Joestars would not know the secret of The World.

 

Even after JUDE had betrayed her so blatantly, Enya would never believe it. JUDE didn't need to be there to know of Enya's loyalty. She would never reveal the truth willingly. She'd rather die.

 

And yet JUDE still killed her.

 

_This is...This is..._ JUDE moved her hands from her face and wrapped her arms around her chest.  _Such an amazing Despair!_

 

JUDE had killed her first follower since she had escaped from the ocean. Enya had been the one to explain Stands to her and had ensured secrecy when finding her new bases to hide in. If it hadn't been for her, the Joestars may have discovered her earlier.

 

Without Enya, JUDE would have never had a Stand.

 

"And still I killed her! I had Steely Dan of all people be the one to announce my plan! Such a pathetic piece of shit murdering one of the few people I came to have affection for." JUDE violently sucked in the line of drool coming down her chin. "This is the Despair I've been yearning for! It's so electric, it's setting my body aflame! My heart is pounding and aching over my betrayal!"

 

This Despair was choking her very throat! Breathing became impossible except for deep and long pants. Her whole body was quivering and shaking in delight! She hadn't felt this way since the first few days of that coffin, before it got boring, and it was such a fine Despair!

 

All those little incidents like killing those pets, devouring hitch-hikers, and even just flat out manipulation of those she travelled with. All of them meant nothing compared to this!

 

JUDE could hear the sounds of the river just next to her mansion rushing outside. Ah! Even the small despairs that she had become accustomed to not felt all the more sweeter when she was like this! It was as if the whole world had been in a dark tint and now it was removed.

 

Enya whose last moments were spent believing that JUDE would never betray her had given her this! This was the true pleasure that a woman like her could bring!

 

It was so good! JUDE wanted to claw out her eyes or rip open her stomach right now! Her mind was in a state that could only be reached by an endless stream of high-level narcotics! This Despair was giving her more pleasure than any man or woman on this planet could give.

 

And she wasn't content with just that.

 

"More...MORE!" JUDE roared at the top of her lungs. The World went frantic, throwing furniture all over the room, as JUDE did the same. "More Despair! I'm not satisfied with just Enya's death! To think I'd demand more after such a painful and miserable end...but that's just it! Even that additional Despair isn't enough! I need more of it to sate me!"

 

No human could ever bare the amount of Despair that JUDE envisioned. It was one reason why succeeding in her ambition would destroy all Hope within humanity. But for this...this was the kind of Despair that only one who had fully cast aside humanity and became Despair could feel.

 

"I want to feel the Despair of my followers as they fail and die! I want to feel the Despair of myself as I cut down those who swore themselves to me. Enya, N'Doul, Vanilla Ice, all of you so loyal! How painful it is when you could die at any moment, even by my own hands!" JUDE shouted. "But that's not all! I want to feed on the Despair of Joseph and Jotaro when they reach my mansion and find their friends slaughtered and their very hopes ruined.

 

"I wonder what kind of face they'll make when I pin them down and suck away all their blood?" JUDE asked herself, before squealing in happiness. She just imagined their faces! "I can't wait any longer. Joestars, my underlings, Pucci! Be the one who'll bring me my next Despair! Better be quick too. There's no telling what I'll do next."

 

And so the vampire JUDE laughed as she went on her rampage. Her bedroom was in ruins as the covers were torn, every movable piece of furniture was destroyed, and there were blood spatters along the floor where she clawed into her own skin. This was the Despair of JUDE when she was restrained.

 

The Despair of murdering Enya had been one that JUDE sorely missed. It had been so long since Martha and JoJo had died. She'd been waiting for the chance yet again to kill a loved one. To feel that intensity once more.

 

There was only one other Despair she recalled that surpassed even that.

 

And that was a Despair she'd have to delay for a bit longer.

 

\---

 

JUDE sometimes listened in on the campfire stories.

 

It wasn't anything big. She used Hermit Purple and had her analysis fill in the gaps. She tried to avoid listening in whenever they discussed strategies against her, but most of the time they just bonded over stories or the close-call with the latest Stand-user. It was nothing more than them bonding as friends.

 

JUDE learnt things about them. Boring things she had already figured out. There was one exception, however.

 

She decided that she had underestimated Joseph Joestar from the start.

 

One benefit of the old man was that all his stories were about the time between JUDE entering the sea and her leaving it. Sure, there was boring shit about Holly's first steps and holidays with Suzie Q, but then there was the good stuff. The stuff about what he did just before World War II.

 

To think she missed seeing the world tear itself apart twice.

 

_If only that Cold War heated up. Now everyone's talking about Reykjavik and a world without nukes._ JUDE had been so excited too when she first got out of the coffin and heard about it. Instead, now everyone was holding hands and shit.  _Hope's such a fucking bummer. Not one nuke in forty-three years? That makes it obvious. Humanity is in definite need of Despair._

 

But the important thing was the Joestars. Joseph mentioning his father's death at the hands of JUDE's final zombie and his mother taking revenge. He spoke of learning about how Lisa Lisa was forced to leave her baby body and him being told that she was dead! To think his grandmother would do that...JUDE didn't know Erina had that in her. Although she should have expected it from how that old bat had acted on the boat.

 

But even more intriguing than that was the story of the Pillar Men.

 

She could tell how each of their group reacted. Polnareff was entranced and Avdol was silent but sometimes reacted, whether he was impressed, awed, or slightly mortified by what young Joseph got up to. JUDE also noticed how Joseph danced around the question of Caesar Zeppeli.

 

Knowing that family, he probably got killed like a bitch.

 

Kakyoin was quiet, asking a few questions at moments, but was otherwise respectful of Joseph's story-telling. It was Jotaro, Joseph's own grandson, who snarked and scorned at the cross-dressing parts, but he still listened intently. He just did it when he thought none of them noticed.

 

Until Joseph reached a certain detail.

 

"Wait, you teamed up with Nazis?" That single question from Jotaro turned the atmosphere around so quickly even JUDE was shocked by it.

 

"L-Look, we weren't at war yet. Besides, Stroheim wasn't like that. He was a good..." Joseph trailed off from his excuse. Probably because Polnareff was sitting near him. "Okay, but he's the reason I have this hand! Stroheim also helped when it counted. Kars would have killed me with those tentacles if it wasn't for him."

 

"If you say so." Jotaro said. Joseph then started asking if his grandson actually meant it or if he was being sarcastic.

 

JUDE personally found the whole thing hilarious.

 

But it also taught her of the Pillar Men and the man who invented the Stone Mask that started all of this. Beings who were beyond the level of vampire and fed on them as if they were humans. Those who went into hiding after all but wiping out the Ripple-users.

 

She wondered if Kars had ever shared her problem with boredom. Immortality and high intelligence often led to that. Maybe that was the true reason he tried to find a way to be in the sunlight. To see what'd happen. JUDE would never know, however, until she completed her plan.

 

The very idea of the Pillar Men sent a shiver down her spine. She could only imagine the absolute terror their presence wrought. The despair in the hearts of their enemies must have been wonderful.

 

Joseph had been interesting too. His younger self was smart, bold, and had a talent for reading people and the situation. What's more, he was certainly no gentleman like JoJo. Swearing and cheating and bluffing about hostages. JUDE could imagine JoJo crying in heaven at the sight of this disappointment.

 

JUDE's own ability to predict was far above his, but she had to admit it'd have been fun to tangle with her younger self. Maybe he'd have found a way to out-smart her and defeat her even without his grandfather's raw strength. If only he hadn't let himself grow old and weak and she hadn't acquired the power of Stands.

 

Still, not like he could complain. He had it good for the last sixty years. Time to die now.

 

_Plus he got to see his mom's hot bod. At least he has that before dying._ JUDE guessed she must have been hot. Joseph said she looked like she was in the prime of her life. She and him may have made a cute couple.

 

But both of them had instead chosen to ditch the Ripple. They weakened their training enough to let the ravages of time steal away their youth and make themselves vulnerable.

 

"Mister Joestar, I was wondering..." Polnareff said, trying to find the right words to ask it. "Why didn't you keep training with it? The Ripple. You look amazing for your age, but you might have looked even younger if you tried it."

 

"Well, in case you didn't notice, that training was way too intense! Giant oil-coated towers and breathing masks! I wasn't having any more of that than I could take. Besides, I was already getting into real estate and it wasn't like there were any vampires left so why bother. JUDE was supposed to be dead, not deep under the sea!"

 

A shot of Despair hit her heart. The rushing water outside became that bit louder in her ears.

 

"But..." Joseph said, his voice losing its levity. "It was the same with my mother after she got re-married. The Ripple does help with age, but did I really want that? Did I want to wake up one morning and look like I did, while Suzie Q got stuck with ageing? Did I really want to outlive my wife for that long? It just didn't seem worth it. What's the point in being some unbeatable master of the Ripple if I was all alone? In the end, I cared more about what I used the Ripple for, instead of what it could do."

 

"That's a mature way of looking at the matter." Avdol said approvingly. He turned to the others. "We'd better rest. We have a long journey ahead of us."

 

They all then said their good-nights, bar Jotaro who grunted it out, and prepared themselves for sleep. The last few weeks had already made them more alert even when sleeping. It'd be hard for them to be caught out like the baby had with Death-13.

 

JUDE did miss that tyke. It was so cute when it was being a little shit.

 

However, her attentions switched back to the group's in a flash. Joseph had just left the bed.

 

"Mister Joestar, what is it?" Kakyoin asked.

 

Joseph didn't say anything. JUDE knew he was looking for an enemy that would never appear. "It's nothing. I thought someone was watching us for a moment."

 

JUDE smiled to herself and cancelled out Hermit Purple. The camera she held in her hand shattered to pieces and when Joseph woke up, he would think nothing of the camera pointed at his group. He would never know that JUDE had been watching him and the others from the confines of her private bedroom.

 

"Goodnight, Joseph," JUDE whispered. Her teeth ached to sink into his skin and devour his blood. "You'll make a good meal at least."

 

Her true focus was on his grandson. Jotaro Kujo had proven to be the strongest of the five men. He held a strong poker-face, kept his emotions inside, and was doing his best Clint Eastwood impression. It made JUDE wonder if she should try a Western accent when she'd come face to face with him.

 

Maybe she'd stick with just overpowering him with the strength, speed, and ability of The World. It'd be fun to watch Star Platinum and The World trade blows until JUDE would use it.

 

That would be when she'd avenge Monokuma and break Jotaro down into nothing. She'd finally get to see Despair on the face of a Joestar! She could only imagine what it'd look like!

 

_That's why I'll kill you last, Jotaro._ JUDE pressed down onto her bed and turned her head to the left. By her table, as always, was JoJo who she gave a smile to.  _As you die, and I exterminate the Joestar bloodline, I'll watch as the last bit of Hope left turns to Despair and then darkness._

 

"Upupupu."

 

\---

 

N'Doul lied in wait for the right moment to strike.

 

He sat in the middle of the desert under the boiling sun and bided his time. He knew that the Joestars themselves were awaiting the arrival of their latest comrade. The Stand-user who would help them defeat JUDE. The Stand-user who would die with them.

 

JUDE had foretold that they would be calling for assistance. It'd be a good chance for the Speedwagon Foundation to also explain Holly Joestar's condition and the latest move that JUDE had made. The helicopter would come and deliver them and that would be the moment to strike.

 

N'Doul had never doubted his mistress' analysis and had no reason to now. She would not lead him astray or betray him. This he knew, even if he also knew she didn't care if the Joestars lived or died in this battle.

 

_No. It's not that she doesn't care._ N'Doul reminded himself. She would not be the woman he served if she was so shallow.  _It's that she feels pleasure either way._

 

JUDE took her pleasure from despair. She was plagued by the curse of her power and ability with only the insanity that comes from witnessing or experiencing great suffering as her release. This was the truth that Enya had blinded herself to and paid the pride for. N'Doul knew better.

 

It was hard to understand for those who did not share JUDE's illness. For such people, their families would wish and act for their happiness which made things worse. For friends and servants, they tried to fulfil commands or think their bonds would survive, their only prize was a quick death.

 

Only evil would calm the heart of JUDE. She would turn against those who loved her and who she loved and hurt them so to feed that evil.

 

How did N'Doul know this?

 

Because only evil could truly understand evil.

 

He had been born blind and only knew the life of a beggar on the streets. If he had living parents, they had long since abandoned him as a burden before he could even remember their faces. If he failed to make enough, he would lie in starvation and thirst. It was normally quite the pitiful story. A lot like the tale of the Little Match Girl who died painfully in the cold under the light of her own dreams of warmth.

 

But that was not N'Doul. That was not the user of the Stand Geb.

 

Geb had been with him for as long as he could remember. He did not attain it through the Stand Arrow like others but it had always been with him. His very spirit itself had manifested it. His Stand that allowed him to control a small body of water to travel for miles on end.

 

His true power, however, was his ability to sense vibrations. He lacked eyesight but he had something much stronger instead.

 

Together, they protected him from pain and suffering. Instead, even as a child on the streets, he could make others feel that pain instead and make them do as he wished.

 

In truth, he was closer to the bands of beggars who enjoyed cars and suits. He'd pray on the tourists and the wealthy for their pity and would turn on them if they refused it. Geb and his abilities also let him con people into giving him their valuables or to turn the trick on the con-men themselves. He was the best of the best and didn't even need to try that hard; a life of practical luxury awaited him.

 

And yet he felt empty. The desire for death filled him entirely for years.

 

His life had no meaning. Yes, he had wealth and success, but it meant nothing to him. He did not feel fulfilled nor did he find any salvation in what was meant to salve the soul.

 

Giving to charity merely made him feel poorer in material wealth. The well-wishes of strangers meant nothing more than sound in the wind. He tried to make friends but found them stupid or arrogant or both. Comrades meant little to him. Not even gorging on material possessions made him feel whole. It was just empty.

 

He knew why as well.

 

His life was in a rut. An endless cycle where he could never actually lose but victory had thus lost its meaning. The only thrill he had was in cheating people and even then it was dying down. It was the result of too much success.

 

N'Doul had even began to wonder if there was any value in life.

 

Then he met JUDE.

 

_"N'Doul, you feel it too, don't you?" The woman towered above him with the gleam in her eyes so bright that even a blind man could feel their glare on his eyes. He felt like the ocean being pulled towards the moon. "You sensed me before you even saw me. I know how you'll answer before you even speak. This world of Hope and Fate, ruled by gravity, is one where we'll never be freed from our chains. N'Doul, do you wish to see into the unknown with me?"_

_Her words shocked N'Doul to the core._

_The unknown? What did she mean by that? His logical side told him that this was just another crazy person. His instincts pointed to the aura of confidence around her. She was absolutely certain of herself. She did not have the haggardness or broken voice of the insane._

_In that voice was the abyss._

_An emptiness that N'Doul had felt in his heart. Yet he could also sense a spark he hadn't recognised in a long time. A spark he had yearned to have yet again in his heart._

_The spark of evil. The happiness he gained from hurting another that he'd been numbed to. Here it was, in a woman who seemed much older than she appeared, and she seemed to be offering it to him._

 

_"You can life the live within this harmony the world finds itself in and never be entertained. Or," JUDE then elaborately crossed her arms and widened her legs. Her dominance somehow grew. "You can come with me and ride the tide of Despair that'll send this world crumbling into the dust and drown the weak. We'll turn this world into a perfect imitation of ourselves! See how much fun I'm having just saying it?"_

_He heard her eyes narrow and her voice dropped an octave._

 

_"Be glad, N'Doul. You're one of three who've made me see a kindred spirit. One whose soul is both pure darkness and yet isn't pitiful." JUDE's eyes widened again and N'Doul already felt himself be swept away by the waves of madness she poured down. "Let me be your saviour, N'Doul and we'll make this world into a thing as ugly and twisted as us!"_

 

She had explained it to him one night.

 

JUDE had found a way to cut the strings of fate that guided people along their harmonious paths. She would suspend the gravity that drove people together and made them act to advance fate. She would take the very foundations of this world's reality and shatter it in a single blow. The whole world would be brought into a Despair like hers.

 

N'Doul heard all this and knew that she was the true saviour of evil.

 

She was not simply the kind of person who spat on those beneath her either. There was a respect and desire for the cycle of good and evil and Hope and Despair. She admired the people who rose up and fought her on an equal level. She yearned to feel their power against her own, if only to overcome it entirely once triumphant. It gave her pleasure to dance on the edge of victory and defeat.

 

It was why a part of her wanted the Joestars to carve a way through her disciples and reach her. Much of it was to crush them herself and a smaller part may actually want to see her plans fail. To be taken by surprise in her predictions going awry as the light of justice would scorch her plans away.

 

But not without a fight. That was the important thing.

 

_Because there is also a great pleasure in breaking the necks of the weak under your boot._ N'Doul readied himself for battle. Geb would target the helicopter first, and then the Joestars would be exterminated. All in the name of JUDE.  _Us evil souls must band together. JUDE, who saved me from the desire for death, will see your heads today, Joestars. I will be the one to end your lives._

 

There was no delusion in either of them. N'Doul had grown bored of winning but despised losing. JUDE would only accept defeat after being dragged kicking and screaming. N'Doul would never throw this fight and nor would he let up for a single moment. He would win this fight if he had anything to say about it.

 

He knew the same applied to JUDE.

 

It was not personal for either of them. It was simply the way that their world functioned. They were evil and thus had to destroy good and bring about evil across the world.

 

Not that it meant they couldn't enjoy it.

 

The sounds of the helicopter drew closer. It was too far for the Joestars to hear it but N'Doul's senses alerted him to it. It would come and deliver the next Stand-user in their group. It would be the perfect time for N'Doul to strike and begin the battle.

 

With any luck, it would be a clean shot to exterminate all of them one at time.

 

_"N'Doul," JUDE said. She leaned over the bed and whispered in his ear. "You, Enya, Pet Shop, and Vanilla Ice. You'd be my Four Horsemen. If any of you died, I'd Despair. Above all others, you are the ones who made me feel this way. I've really fallen for all of you. So fight your hardest and kill my family, okay?"_

 

N'Doul nodded to himself at the memory.

 

It was time to get to work.

 

\---

 

Jesus Christ, he'd been fearing this moment.

 

"Hol Horse! How good to see you!" JUDE's voice echoed through the dark room. The cobwebs shook at the sharp joy in her tone. "I'm sorry to hear about J Geil...and your business with Enya. I'm afraid she felt you had some blame in the death of her son. But enough about that! How are you?"

 

Hol Horse was a cautious man. It was how he lived for so long.

 

He didn't care for being the guy on the top of the mountain. For a guy like him, all he wanted was good money, good women, and good booze and he'd be content. If that meant being #2 instead of #1 then sign him up. Living was the aim of the game.

 

So why did he end up getting mixed up with JUDE?

 

The towering woman was looking through a shelf of books when he came in. She turned to him and gave a great big smile and wave to greet him. It was as if he hadn't failed in defeating the Joestars. The mission she had given him had failed and now he feared the consequences.

 

He'd been beguiled by that face months ago and ended up being tied to her by chains of fear. She had seemed so into him as well!

 

But now she had her back to him, shirtless, and was waiting for him to answer. She was waiting for him to give her a reply.

 

_Damn it. I'm frozen stiff just from standing behind her._ Hol Horse shook and quivered in fright. He could barely get the words of his report out.

 

"T-The Joestars are drawing closer. I'm afraid it won't be long before they reach Cairo. Mariah and Alessi have been taken down." He said. Would JUDE strike him down for simply relaying a message? Surely not.

 

"Really? Mariah? Damn. She was pretty good in bed. How bad is it?" JUDE asked absent-mindedly. It was like she was asking about a shopping list!

 

Hol Horse had to admit to some jealousy. Mariah had never accepted his advances and it was an open-secret that she and JUDE were banging, although apparently JUDE preferred her angry face to her pleasured face.

 

But he also thanked god she never wanted to do it with him. Never stick you dick in crazy; that had been one of his main rules in life.

 

_Though being their servant apparently is a different case._ Hol Horse said to himself. The whole business with Enya should have been a sign to run. But where would he even run to that would be safe from JUDE?

 

He was taking too long to answer. He had to be quick, if he wanted to live.

 

"A lot of broken bones. She'll be in the hospital for months. Sorry." Hol Horse replied. He waited for the sudden change in personality. Would the angry one take off his head? Or was that the queen one?

 

"Huh. Oh well then." JUDE replied. She walked to a chair facing away from Hol Horse and sat down. She opened some kind of book and spoke again. "Stick around, would you? I need to decide your punishment for later."

 

A man wasn't meant to gasp so lightly. It made him sound like a frightened young girl. And still Hol Horse gasped lightly like a frightened young girl.

 

JUDE had that effect on people.

 

"I know you won't fight them. So I guess I'll have to make you my entertainment. I'll leave you hanging in fear of punishment and then I'll subject you to something so cruel and painful that you'll wish you had remained in that uncertain panic! Isn't that wonderful?!"

 

No. No it wasn't. The exact opposite was the case. JUDE's voice had gotten more gleeful as she spoke. It sounded like she was actually considering it!

 

Hol Horse choked on the dark presence pooling around her form. Had she always been so close to him?! Had she not had her back to him earlier?! How was it that she could move without making a presence? Why was she smiling like that?

 

Did she already have plans to flay his arm off or something?!

 

No...instead, she merely plucked the cigarette from his mouth whilst it was still lit and regarded it curiously. Hol Horse wondered if she was going to take a puff or put it on her skin.

 

But of course she'd instead bite down on the centre and chew off half of that very cigarette. The burning ash and the unburnt parts must have tasted horrible. Did she even feel it burn her mouth, or was that the very reason she did it? Hol Horse didn't know how she could stand it without spitting it out.

 

JUDE, however, was just happy to smile and swallow it whole!

 

"Disgusting." She said. Once again, she turned her back on him and placed a hand on her left shoulder. "The left side of my body...it's slower than the right. Even now, Jonathan Joestar fights me with everything he has...I need more time. If I'm going to test his descendants, it has to be at full power! Do you understand? The only way to avoid punishment is to fight with everything you have!"

 

_I'm being driven into a corner._ Hol Horse couldn't keep down the bile rushing up his throat for long. This bitch wanted him to kill himself for her!  _I'm not the kind of guy who puts his life on the line! I side with the strongest to avoid that. I didn't swear any deep loyalty to you._

 

A thought came to mind.

 

Was JUDE really that strong? Oh, she had her followers and she had those crazy vampire powers she claimed to have. But how many of them had she used recently, other than those flesh-buds? Why was it that she hid behind the likes of Enya and Vanilla Ice?

 

Maybe she was weak and vulnerable and this was his chance.

 

A chance to take back his life and end JUDE once and for all.

 

Before he knew it, while JUDE was happily engaged in her book, he was raising his pistol to the back of her head. He felt Emperor slowly begin its work and realised that he could actually do this. He might actually kill her!

 

He had blank range, an open back, and an opponent who just admitted that her left side was slow to react! It was the perfect shot for any assassin! This could be it!

 

_This is it! I can do this!_

 

"Come on, Hol Horse. Chop, chop." JUDE said, clapping her hands as if her fate hadn't just been sealed!

 

_This is the end, Judith Eydris!_ Hol Horse readied to pull the trigger and blow the bitch's brains ou-

 

JUDE was in front of him.

 

The cobwebs were unmoved, he didn't see her move one inch, and he swore he didn't hear anything either. And yet, there JUDE was, standing right in front of Hol Horse in a slight crouch so that his gun was pointing straight at her forehead. A perfect shot that any assassin would dream of.

 

Normally, that would be the sign that Hol Horse was in control.

 

But no one could have that mad and wild grin on their face like JUDE did without it being some kind of trap. There was a clear catch to this.

 

Damnit, she was good at this! JUDE's talent had been to predict the actions of someone right down to the smallest of movements! Why wouldn't she have figured that he'd try an assassination to free himself?

 

"Could you actually do it?" She asked. Her voice...he had never heard it in that tone before. It was low and cold and calculating and this was a trap, wasn't it? Wasn't it?! "Are you willing to gamble that your Emperor is faster than The World? Are you actually going to shoot me in the head?" JUDE only grew more frantically happy and Hol Horse grew more frightened. "All this time planning and readying for the Joestars. Everything that I've done...it'd be rendered worthless! All because I was killed by a snivelling coward like you! It's horrifying. It's agonising!"

 

He swore he could see her eyes be replaced by a swirling pattern. It was as if his very gun and the situation was hypnotising her into a pleasure like none other. She was drooling, for christ's sake!

 

"Could you be the man to give me that kind of Despair?" JUDE opened her mouth and rested her teeth by the barrel of the gun. There couldn't be a more perfect shot and both of them knew it. "Come on! Do it! Make that ultimate gamble! Follow through on that perfect calmness before!"

 

She was lying. That was the only reason she was acting this was. It was some kind of trap to test his loyalty and see if he'd do it. If he failed, then JUDE would probably kill him or use his body as a bloodbag. The perfect way to justify torturing him.

 

JUDE was crazy, but she wasn't so crazy as to kill herself now.

 

That was the thought moving through Hol Horse's head as he put his finger away from the trigger and raised his free hand in surrender. All to show fair-play.

 

"Ah...don't worry, Lady JUDE. I was just messing around. It wasn't like-"

 

"Shut the fuck up and get out of my sight." JUDE's mouth had moved from Emperor and she roughly shoved him aside as she walked away. She almost shouted her next words, "Handle the Joestars, or I'll flay the skin from your right arm and make you eat it."

 

Hol Horse feared the worst. Somehow, he had pissed her off more than if he took the shot and tried to kill her. He was in even more danger than before when he'd only been using common sense to deal with her.

 

This was why he couldn't work with her! A woman whose motive was to bring despair to all those around her and a mercenary who just wanted a luxurious life just didn't mix! He could never understand a woman like JUDE in a thousand years! The Joestars on one side and JUDE on the other...just where could a man like himself go?!

 

Hol Horse could only take solace in the fact that he was safe without any marks. All he had to do was find a new partner and he'd be back in business in no time! He just had to be flexible is all.

 

When Hol Horse left the mansion, he didn't sigh in relief. He didn't care do such a thing inside or outside the mansion.

 

Because she would know.

 

She always somehow knew.

 

\---

 

It took a few days for JUDE to fully forgive Hol Horse for basically just pissing all over her.

 

The fact that he left to go team-up with Boingo helped his case.

 

JUDE had decided to think of less disappointing people to pass the time. It was better than having yet another tantrum in a room because of how frustrating her remaining assassins were. She had only two useful ones left and they were guarding the mansion.

 

On the bright side, it made her minions learn to give her some goddamn space, and she could actually start thinking about the men who'd be the final stepping-stones to her destiny.

 

For example, she had accepted that Jotaro was practically nothing like JoJo.

 

If Kakyoin had been JoJo's friend, he'd have been weeping and practically carrying the man to the best hospital around after N'Doul struck his eyes. He wouldn't have remained stoic and pissed-off like Jotaro had been. He wouldn't have acted like his emotions were a hand of cards to hide.

 

JoJo was also a gentleman and polite. Sure, JUDE always wanted to mess it all up and ruin JoJo's very perception of life to bring him into despair, but it was there and pristine for her to ruin. He'd always been distant to her but that was probably because she had Martha set his dog on fire.

 

Jotaro, on the other hand, was rude and direct with his words. He never put it delicately and he was almost outrageously blunt. JUDE couldn't think of any instance where JoJo would call his mother a bitch like Jotaro did. If anything, Jotaro was probably closer to the kind of ruffians JoJo probably had to fight on Ogre Street.

 

But somehow all the girls of his school wanted to be Jotaro's girl and all the boys wanted to be like him. All tough and honest and never once losing a fight. He was like a rebel straight out of a movie. All cool and mysterious and tough.

 

The kind of exterior JUDE just wanted to crack open like an egg.

 

JoJo was so open with his emotions that it was always fun to toy with them and him. JUDE always envied that freedom when she had to be the demure type who fretted about gardens and dresses and balls. If she had to ever tend to a flower again, she'd probably just blow her brains out.

 

Not like perfect-poker-face Jotaro. He was locked-up tight.

 

_I can't wait until I break that lock and make all those emotions come out. Will you cry? Or will you snap in anger?_ JUDE had dreamed of that moment. The corpses of her enemies would litter Cairo and she would be the one to put an end to that family. To destroy Hope and leave nothing but Despair.

 

There were similarities between Jotaro and JoJo. Their Stands were remarkably similar to one enough that it was almost eerie.

 

Joseph's Stand was rooted in subtlety, trickery, and a small amount of cheating. The ability of limited clairvoyance, but it was mostly a decent way of having infinite rope. It was indirect.

 

Star Platinum and The World, on the other hand, were direct. They were brute force personified. Their strength could shatter diamonds, they were as fast as light, extremely precise in their senses, and those were their main abilities. With the exception of stopping time, The World was essentially Star Platinum with a different look and less versatility in extending limbs.

 

But that was mostly it. Blood, directness and a willingness to fight were the main shared features between the two.

 

_He's not just like JoJo. He's like someone else._ JUDE knew who she was thinking of. She could already remember that stupid empty stare she'd give everyone. The inability to show emotion except when in a fight.

 

Lacking in emotion to almost everyone that they'd meet. The physical strength that few could match and most envied deep in their hearts. The fact that they were only really close to those they considered family.

 

Yes, JUDE sometimes saw Martha when looking at Jotaro.

 

There were differences, JUDE imagined Jotaro had less of a stench and was not a perverted butcher, but they matched in JUDE's mind. She remembered all the children at school and girls at the balls talking about how amazing Marcus Cutler was and how much they'd want to be him or be with him. He was practically the idol of Hugh Henderson Academy.

 

In return for such praise and adulation, both Martha and Jotaro closed themselves off from all others apart from their closest family and friends. Jotaro at least had more than a single friend, so that gave him the edge over Martha. JUDE's sister would always open her heart to her, whilst Jotaro just thought people would read him naturally.

 

Such an idiot.

 

Both of them were close to their mothers, no matter what Jotaro called her, and would do anything for them. Martha made that promise and Jotaro was fighting his way to Cairo. In turn, they were silent, brooding, and had a thing for certain animals.

 

Not bears because they had poor taste.

 

It made JUDE think; would Martha's Stand be like Star Platinum? The girl only ever had a one-track mind and was only good for killing and wounding so a Stand that could only fight fit her. But that wasn't the only question on her mind.

 

Would killing Jotaro feel like killing Martha?

 

JUDE remembered the look in her sister's eyes when her heart was ripped from her. JUDE had crushed it in her hand whilst freezing her sister into a block of ice. That look of horror and pain and despair would stay with JUDE forever. It was seared into her mind and dreams.

 

In her dreams, it was Martha who would betray her. It was Martha who killed her instead.

 

_In the end, though, you never would. The thought probably never even crossed your mind, Martha._ JUDE bit down on her lip and blood poured down her mouth. She tried to drink it up, but otherwise let it stain her clothes. She had dozens already.  _You acted like you were the only one who knew me and you didn't even realise what I wanted._

 

JUDE decided to stop thinking about Martha. Thinking about her elder sister, now dead for a century, wasn't despairing at all.

 

It was just disappointing.


	16. Yesterday

**Arc Three: Dangan Crusaders**

 

****Chapter Twelve: Yesterday** **

 

 

\---

 

For a single moment, JUDE thought about leaving.

 

The night before the Joestars would certainly come to her mansion, she would have fled and told her servants to pretend otherwise. She'd hide out in some hovel in Cairo, or flee to the sewers or another city, and wait a few days. Hell, maybe just keep leading them on a chase forever.

 

The thought of them arriving at her coffin and throwing it open to find nothing was exciting. To imagine them tearing her mansion apart to find her only to fail was exhilarating. The idea of Holly Joestar dying in agony on a hospital bed and the Joestars learning of this...

 

It was such an amazing Despair to comprehend that she almost did it.

 

It was tempting on its own. JUDE could keep the hunt going and see just how far she could push them in their chase. She could see what it'd take to break them into Despair and laugh at their broken shells of bodies as they fought her. She'd kill them physically, but emotionally and spiritually, she'd have done it simply by leaving.

 

But she wouldn't. She would stay right where she was.

 

Why? In practical terms, it made no sense. All JUDE needed was a devoted follower and the souls of thirty-six sinners for her plan to work. Vanilla Ice was as devoted as they come and she could easily find thirty-six people of such evil and cruelty that they'd fit the bill.

 

All she had to do was keep her distance and she wouldn't need to be distracted by minor things such as dealing with a family from her past. Did she really need the power to stop time for more than five seconds?

 

If JUDE had the blood of a few dozen more person, then JoJo's body would surely finally have its spirit suppressed and she wouldn't have to fight it for control. Easy, right? Who needed the Joestars for that?

 

_I do. I need the Joestars to die before this is done._ JUDE thought to herself. Not just because only the blood of a Joestar would certainly give her full control of the body.

 

This was not an act of pragmatism. JUDE had never been defined by that need alone. She was not someone driven by logic or reason or such pitiful things.

 

JUDE was driven by Despair. The need to feel it and the need to inflict it. She wanted to bask in it and become it. She wanted to take the proud beacons of Hope and grind them into dust. That was her grand vision.

 

She would be fuelled by Joestar blood when she reached Heaven. She would use the blood of her greatest enemies to destroy fate and gravity and bring about the destruction of any peace of mind amongst humanity.

 

Tomorrow night was a ceremony.

 

It would be the moment where JUDE cut her final ties to the past, her humanity, and the Joestar family. It would be the moment that she cut down all remaining threats to Despair. After that, it would be a question for whether a torturous Despair or a suffocating Hope would take this world by storm.

 

Pucci was young and arrogant, but strong and influential enough to perhaps recruit any survivors. His Whitesnake was a Stand to be feared and would be a match for the likes of Vanilla Ice. Hell, he'd probably defeat Vanilla Ice if they fought.

 

His need to avoid his own actions and instead put his faith in fate- liberating him from blame- would bring about the end of despair if he succeeded. All of humanity would face their fate with resolution and become accustomed to it.

 

But such a thing was despairing in itself! A world of slaves!

 

If JUDE won the battle tomorrow night, then it wouldn't matter if she lived or died against Pucci. She would have already triumphed over humanity and cursed it to a life of eternal despair.

 

If that victory was to have meaning, it meant she had to wipe out the Hope that the Joestars represented. She had to crush them all and drink up their blood to strengthen The World. It meant she would have to put an end to the Joestar bloodline.

 

Tomorrow night would see JUDE win or die.

 

There was no way she would ever run away from such a gamble.

 

\---

 

And so tonight was the night.

 

"JoJo, we've been through so much together," JUDE said, looking down on her old companion. "I can't believe this is the end."

 

There were no windows in JUDE's private bedroom. She had no need when the ceiling lights were working perfectly well. The only downside was that she didn't have the dusk sky to act as a ticking clock to hold the Joestars to. Only her attention was on a different matter.

 

A different person, to be precise.

 

She laid on the bed and held up JoJo's skull so that it was eye to eye with her. The two of them had been staring at one another in silence for about five minutes, but it might as well have been five hours. JUDE had to be the one to break the ice, but JoJo was stepping up now.

 

"JUDE, I wish I could still say you can turn back. But when they stepped foot into this mansion, your mind was made up." JoJo said regretfully. "Now I can only hope they'll end your despair once and for all."

 

"If they even make it through my final guards." JUDE added.

 

"They will. I know they will." JoJo's voice had that spark of defiance that always threatened to turn to a raging storm.

 

The two of them faced each other down once more. It was a battle they had fought ever since the day JUDE had arrived at the Joestar mansion with her sister. Their initial plan to seize the Joestar fortune, the first fight with Martha, the day JoJo discovered their plans, JUDE discarding her humanity, the battle at Windknight's lot, and the ship-sinking.

 

They had fought one another so many times that it was hard to forget that they endured the depths together.

 

Maybe that was why JUDE moved JoJo's skull in for a hug.

 

That caught JoJo off-guard. "JUDE?! What are you-"

 

"Shhh," JUDE whispered. She shook the skull as if it were a child. "JoJo, we've sent each other to hell so many times. You as a champion of Hope and I as Despair incarnate. We've taken so much from each other but also given it. My big brother, I stole you from your family and have kept you here. You cursed me to a life under the depths for a century and even now your body fights me. How did we end up like this?"

 

"You know how." JoJo didn't sound bitter. Just defeated.

 

"I do. I do." JUDE nodded. For a few moments, they were simply together and nothing else mattered, and then she whispered it. "This is the last night that we'll be like this. Even if I win, we're done."

 

JoJo wasn't one to gasp, but he certainly came close. Why not? Was there a better way of reacting to your death sentence?

 

"I'll smash your skull in my hands, bloodied by the corpses of your descendants, and let what's left of you go to heaven. It's time I ended my link with the Joestar family. Despair has no family. You've been a lot of fun, but there's a time in a girl's life where she has to leave her imaginary friends behind." JUDE said. She smiled wistfully and tried to not let nostalgia break her will.

 

"JUDE..." JoJo's voice trailed off. She knew he was thinking about a world without his family. "I think that'd be the right decision. I don't want to see the world you'd create."

 

"I know. And it hurts to know I won't be able to feed on your Despair. But that's the thing," JUDE tightened her hug around the skull. She had to be careful that she didn't break it by accident. "I can't think of any other Despair I can get from you that'd top killing you again. You understand, right? It's time for me to grow up."

 

"Yes. Yes, I do." JoJo said. He always did know how to face death with dignity.

 

"Goodbye, JoJo." JUDE leaned in and moved JoJo's skull up so she could kiss the forehead.

 

"Goodbye, JUDE." JoJo said. He said nothing more as JUDE placed him gently on the centre of the pillows and moved to pull the blankets from the bottom of the bed to cover it.

 

There was no reason he couldn't be warm before she killed him.

 

JUDE turned her back on him after that. She walked to the exit of her private room and closed the door behind her. She had done it. She had truly and honestly cut her connection with JoJo. She felt like she needed a drink to wet her parched throat after that.

 

She could have smashed the skull without warning. The brief moment of shock for JoJo might have been a glorious despair. But she didn't. JUDE had a need for ceremony and it required for her to kill JoJo last.

 

_It began with JoJo and it'll end with JoJo._ JUDE moved towards her make-up desk and began to apply it to her face. A little bit of blush, eye-liner, and lip-stick. She needed to turn her usual plain face into something beautiful.

 

How else would she receive her favourite servant?

 

\---

 

JUDE had always known that he would be the last of her followers.

 

Enya's heart belonged to JUDE, but she had a pure love for her son that blinded her to his evil as it was her own, and she would always be the one to charge in first. N'Doul was the one who was to test the resolve of the Joestars and see if they could defeat the Gods like they did the Tarot.

 

Her adorable Pet Shop might have kept the Joestars from knowing of her home in time. Even JUDE's prediction talent couldn't entirely tell if the falcon or the dog would win. Her pet would have fought until the end to keep them out. She'd miss that bird.

 

She never sent out Vanilla Ice. The last of the four most loyal and dedicated of her gang. Of those four, only three had understood her Despair. Of those three, each guarded the walls of her kingdom. N'Doul the gates to Egypt, Pet Shop the walls of her mansion, and Vanilla Ice had the most important role.

 

He guarded her inner sanctum.

 

JUDE sat shrouded in darkness and smoke. She was one with it and almost submerged entirely within it. Inside her bedroom was a separate reality that she alone enjoyed.

 

"Lady JUDE, please forgive me for disturbing you. I know you may already be aware, but the Joestars and their allies have infiltrated the mansion and D'Arby has fallen." Vanilla Ice reported.

 

She knew it'd happen. For once, everything going to plan was making her happy.

 

"D'Arby was a genius who surpassed his older brother. His Stand was also impressive; I remember having fun with those dolls." JUDE said, recalling the soft cries and wails she felt from their very souls. Her vision flickered to the door. "But you know why he failed?"

 

He didn't answer. Vanilla Ice was not the kind of man who thought deeply about these things.

 

"Don't be a stranger. We've both known each other too long for that. Come in." JUDE always had to give him permission first. It wasn't all bad. Having someone like him was fun and a bit familiar too.

 

When he entered, he would see JUDE herself laying on her bed with her legs spread out and without a shirt. She reminded herself to change before setting out. In her hand was a red half-eaten apple. If she had a snake coiled around her upper body, she'd be the perfect image of temptation.

 

"Joseph and Jotaro are fighting for Holly and will never surrender. Even if it means they die, they'll keep fighting." JUDE mused. She picked up a nearby wine-bottle, two-thirds full, and drank straight from the bottle. It was gone in one gulp. "Kakyoin, Polnareff, and Avdol? They're different and the same. The offer Monokuma made might have crushed their spirits if the Joestars agreed, because it would crush their Hope. They have tasted my Despair and want to stop it.

 

"Upupu," The cruel laughter flowed from her lips. "If they run from me, then they're running from life and themselves. They would forever hate themselves and be in despair. To ditch that, they're willing to fight to the death."

 

JUDE switched personalities. She went with the angry one first.

 

"Such fucking dumbasses!" She howled. Not a moment passed before she switched to her intellectual personality. "But it's that very stupidity that drives them. It's their Hope. D'Arby, on the other hand, wanted to live more than he wanted to fight. He could never rise up against their Hope. It was too bright and powerful. Only one who has sold their soul to Despair can stop them."

 

Vanilla Ice continued to kneel before her and questioned nothing. He had seen her flicker through these personalities like a bored teenager watching the television in the middle of the day. She would keep searching until either she found the right one or got bored of it.

 

He questioned none of it. That was why JUDE decided to go with the regal one as she moved a finger to stroke at the scar around her neck.

 

"The wound on my neck. The body I stole from JoJo. His legacy. All of these have caused me pain. All I need is a single person's blood now and all that will end. I will be at full-power." JUDE said. She narrowed her eyes. "Do you remember what I told you about Bruford and Tarkus?"

 

He knew what that meant.

 

Behind Vanilla Ice was his Stand Cream. He moved until he was directly in front of the basin and moved his neck so that it was directly above it. He was situated just at the right position for the most amount of blood to be collected. There wouldn't even be a drop hitting the floor from the initial cut.

 

Cream raised its hand and prepared to strike down its own user. Stands truly were the manifestation of the user's soul.

 

"Please accept this! Ascend beyond your past and do with my blood as you wish!" He shouted as Cream's hand moved down like an executioner's blade.

 

And just like with an executioner's blade, the neck gave way easily and Vanilla Ice died. His head fell from his body and collapsed onto the floor with his body. The basin was already filling up with blood faster than if JUDE had a tap installed. She merely sat and watched as it filled.

 

Meanwhile, her last true follower's corpse laid on the floor.

 

JUDE let her face fall and had the mushrooms grow on her hair again. "I can't believe I made him do that. I really made my last and most loyal servant do that. I'm not even feeling like drinking his blood." She muttered despondently. JUDE then perked up and her expression was so sunny it should have melted off. "I know! I'll just bring him back!"

 

She got up on her feet and walked over to Vanilla Ice's corpse. He laid there peacefully whilst JUDE stood over him. There was something attractive in such mindless obedience and loyalty. Like so many others, he was caught in the whirlwind that was JUDE and could not escape.

 

Yet he, like a few others, embraced it and made it his own just as JUDE had with her own Despair.

 

Maybe that was why she took a moment to crouch down and pick up his head. She gently placed her lips against his and felt the dying warmth touch her own.

 

When she stood up again, her mind was made up, and she decided that this Despair was not enough. She still had a use for him. Her voice returned to its normal level as she spoke.

 

"Vanilla Ice. Your loyalty comes from a place where only the most devout hold in their souls for their god. You see me as your Hope and will do anything for me. The last person like you I killed a century ago." JUDE grinned and sliced her wrist open. A pool of blood poured down next to him. "But I'm the kind of girl who hates repeating herself when it comes to stuff like this! Ice, use that corrupted Hope and bring about a Despair that'll devour the friends of the Joestars and turn them into nothing!"

 

She had given him a power that no human had known for decades. A gift she hadn't bestowed in a century. The left side of her body electrified softly in pain as the last remnants of JoJo fought against this evil power. Her neck began to ache along where Judith ended and JoJo began.

 

She had known this pain for so long it was no longer despairing.

 

_But for you, it's worth it._ JUDE mused as she saw Vanilla Ice's body repair itself. The perks of being a vampire.  _Better be grateful. You're the only one who I'll ever do this for._

 

Vanilla Ice's eyes shot open and he was alive once more. He did not seem to know why nor did he question it. JUDE knew that he had no idea that he was now a vampire. All he did was stand tall and look at her with eyes empty of emotion bar the desire to serve her. He was awaiting his next order.

 

"Not even death disrupts your loyalty. Good." JUDE leaned down and kissed him again. It was like kissing his corpse. "When you kill them, learn how to kiss. I don't doubt you'll get the job done in killing."

 

"I promise, Lady JUDE. I will meet your expectations without fail." Behind Vanilla Ice, Cream began to devour its user and itself before it let out a screech.

 

JUDE couldn't hold in her joy. Of all the Stands that her followers wielded, that was the Stand that she loved the most out of all of them. Only Enya's Justice, Steely Dan's Lovers, Alessi's Sethan, and Anubis came close, and were yet still far outpaced by Cream.

 

A Stand that could only destroy. A Stand devouring everything in its path and sending them to oblivion. It struck without direction and left emptiness in its wake. Its user had no vision or sound to go on and only their own planning. Hell, they couldn't even plan ahead beyond a direction. All they could rely on was instinct.

 

If JUDE could have wished for any Stand other than The World, she would have chosen Cream.

 

And that very Stand would be the one to actually begin the body-count. There was no way any of them could anticipate the destruction and pain that awaited them. JUDE was already calculating who would live and who would die at this rate.

 

In any case, she'd have to get ready for the survivors.

 

It wouldn't be long until the sun had set.

 

\---

 

Mohammad Avdol had been the first to die.

 

In his final moments, almost as a reflex while being anything but, he threw Polnareff and Iggy out of the way rather than save himself. Not that he had much chance of surviving that ambush after turning his head. However, while JUDE knew this, Avdol didn't.

 

He put all his hope onto them.

 

_But he still died the moment he looked at those words._ JUDE leaned on a nearby wall and breathed in deeply.  _He may have used it to save them, but he still died. The last thing he felt...his whole body apart from his arms being ripped apart by the void..._

 

JUDE could analyse most everything and even she had no idea where Cream's victims went. They could have been destroyed completely or they may have been taken to a place of pure darkness. Hell, maybe they got teleported somewhere or anywhere.

 

As JUDE wandered down pitch-black hallways, going over Vanilla Ice's battle with Polnareff and Iggy in her mind, she wondered if that was the case. If Avdol suddenly was in another world without his arms. He'd just be laying there, sans arms, bleeding like a dying pig. Would he be sad, angry, or just scared for himself and his friends?

 

Imagine never knowing the ultimate fate of those he thought he died to save. He'd be spending the rest of his life trapped in that uncertainty. He'd be in a strange new world and have to save himself from bleeding out all the while despair would be crawling behind the fortune-teller.

 

Just the idea was making JUDE feel all tingly inside.

 

But the icing on the cake was how Polnareff and Iggy acted after. That look of horror and confusion and denial as Vanilla Ice's Cream took Avdol's arms and devoured them as well. It was enough to make JUDE laugh when she felt their despair at the loss of their friend. For a second time as well in Polnareff's case!

 

The mansion had been designed so that she could hear their battles. It was faint, but her ears could listen fine and she herself could predict the broad strokes of the battle. Luckily, she lacked enough information to be sure. There were still surprises.

 

Vanilla Ice did what he always did in battle. He attacked with Cream endlessly with a few basic strategies. The only one worthy of note was being ready to trap his enemies if they had tried to run out the door. The cowards attempting to leave would have been slaughtered in an instant.

 

Instead, they put their hope in fighting him head-on. They'd rather die on their feet and avenge their friend rather than enjoy the sunlight. It was for the best for everyone. JUDE might have been able to feed on their despair if they abandoned their friend and pride, but it'd merely alleviate her disappointment.

 

What she got instead was nothing short of glorious.

 

Polnareff was nearing death's door and Iggy had most of his bones broken from Vanilla Ice's kicks.

 

Vanilla Ice himself was leaking despair when he had been tempted by the very image of JUDE in front of him. His loyalty was so great that he couldn't stand even harming that image. Not to mention what he did to the dog. Nothing like a bit of animal cruelty to get the blood pumping.

 

JUDE had almost gotten bored when Polnareff had accepted his death. A predictable end to a pretty predictable man whose purpose was merely to cheer and help from the sidelines.

 

But then Iggy helped! That mangy mutt who only knew how to break wind and kill falcons actually sacrificed himself to save Polnareff! Of all the things he could have done, JUDE had been surprised that he chose that path. Iggy then died like, well, a dog.

 

That despair. Oh, that despair! JUDE was thankful that the trail of drool would dry by the time she reached her destination and that no one heard her soft giggling fit. Iggy's death! Polnareff's guilt! And then that Hope and rage that made him fight on against Vanilla Ice.

 

The power of the sun scorching through her last and favourite follower's body had been amazing. Those screams alone! And then to have died to a simple push from Silver Chariot...every last bit of him turning into nothing as the sunlight burnt away even his dust!

 

He hadn't even known about his weakness until Polnareff exploited it. The very immortality gifted to him had actually doomed him!

 

_And now I have no one. The only one who comes close is a man who wishes me dead and my legacy in ruins. All four of them are dead._ JUDE stifled the urge to burst out with a cry of pleasure. She couldn't risk alerting Polnareff just yet, even if it was tempting.  _This is what I've been needing. The Despair of the years after escaping the coffin...it's like recalling the taste of warm piss compared to what I have now._

 

But this wasn't enough. Just as with Enya, JUDE wasn't sated with just this Despair, even if it felt great. She needed more! More! There was never enough Despair for her to feel! The Joestars and their friends owed it to her to bring her a despair like none other.

 

She was nearing Polnareff now. He was mourning his friends from the bottom of his heart and still was preparing himself to fight against her. Alone, if necessary! An absolute idiot to the end!

 

However, JUDE would be the one to confront him.

 

_Jean-Pierre Polnareff. You probably think you've overcome your weaknesses. You think you'll reclaim your soul by facing me?!_ JUDE walked until she reached the top of the stairs and looked down on him. He had his back to her.  _I'll take that self-belief and determination and I'll turn it to shit!_

 

She would bring ruin to all the obstacles in her path.

 

\---

 

Polnareff recognised the pooling smoke slithering down the stairs. He remembered that special kind of darkness that swirled around the human-shaped monster and almost formed a cloak in its own right. He could also recognise that thin but bright light that almost seemed to come from the woman herself!

 

She stood tall and wore the same kind of clothes the day she met him. It was almost too casual to believe for a monster like her. That stylish black jacket over a white shirt that ended by the elbows and midriff, revealing golden circlets around arms the size of Polnareff's head, with the shirt buttons undone by the top and bottom. Her long, skin-tight, red trousers that stopped just above black boots that were complemented by the red bow on the left breast of her shirt and the white and bear hairpins on her twintails.

 

If it weren't for her deeds and the contrast between the face of an angel and the body of a warrior, she'd almost look like a fashionable teenager. A model, even. Her confident poise of crossed arms, legs positioned apart, and the confident smirk on her face only added to it.

 

But Polnareff knew better. He and anyone else who had been victims of her seduction and madness.He saw within those bright blue eyes and saw the eyes of someone who wanted to watch the world burn. Not just that, but to watch as those caught in the flames screamed and howled and died.

 

Polnareff knew what he was looking at.

 

He was looking at pure evil incarnate.

 

"So we finally meet, JUDE." Polnareff said. JUDE pretended to look shocked.

 

"Huh? Am I talking to the right person?" She then twirled a lock of hair around her finger and pouted. False-depression was showing.. "How cruel. Even after I promised to help you avenge your sister. Do you think you'd have gotten anywhere close to finding J Geil if I hadn't approached you? I thought you came all this way to thank me, even if you finished your personal business in India."

 

"If you feel so bad, I'll cut your agony short with your death." Polnareff replied. He took a moment to spit out the blood in his mouth.

 

JUDE switched to wearing glasses and her tone became that of a teacher's. "Polnareff, it's time for you to walk away. You've been cute and funny, but comic relief characters like you either die or leave the stage when the main characters fight. You don't even need to beg or anything. Just go down two steps and I won't kill you. In fact, I'll even let you join me again if you like."

 

"When I first met you," Polnareff stepped forward his with injured foot, refusing to let the pain effect him. "I was overcome by your flesh-bud and made myself open to your words. I let your evil and madness overcome me and turn me into a freak who loathed the world because it was easier than hunting for the true monster. All those people who suffered because of me. All I've done after succumbing to your corruption. I let you turn me into a loser."

 

All those people who he hurt. All of those families who were forced to watch as he brutally questioned their loved ones. He had let JUDE take his need for justice and let revenge blind him; not righteous revenge against a criminal who the police would never catch! A putrid and foul sense of vengeance that was against the innocent rather than the guilty. In his despair, he took the easy way out!

 

"Are you remembering your Despair?" JUDE asked. "All I did was point out what your heart was feeling deep down. Underneath all that bragging and talking of justice, you just wanted to kill because that was a way to run. So come on! Run! Show me that despair of yours take flight!"

 

The memories were enough for him to feel ashamed of himself again and grit his teeth. He refused to give in!

 

"You mock my resolve. You talk about how great it is to abandon your hopes and dreams and live in despair and evil, but let me tell you the truth. To simply do your bidding and act no better than J Geil...just making excuses for myself all the while," He pointed straight at JUDE, the monster he would slay this day. "It was worse than death! A life attained by fleeing from you isn't worth living at all!"

 

He spat more blood after that. It was probably a bad idea to show a vampire blood or weakness, especially one like JUDE. Yet Polnareff didn't give a damn. Not when he was looking at the woman who brought so much misery and planned to do much worse.

 

"But right now, I don't feel any fear or despair. Can you see that with those eyes of yours? Those that can predict everything and everyone?! Since I met Mister Joestar and the others on this 45-day journey, my will to fight has only grown stronger. After Avdol and Iggy's deaths, I know in the deepest parts of my soul, that I will never fear fighting you as much as I'd fear being that same coward again! Do you hear me? The evil you've done and made others commit in your name, even myself. It all ends now!"

 

JUDE licked her lips and her eyes lightened up the way a child would at the sight of a chocolate cake. It was a look that didn't belong on her face.

 

As if by magic, it shifted and JUDE's eyes narrowed into a fierce sneer and her arms moved into an 'x' position, whilst her fingers were poised like someone at a rock-concert. Around her, the darkness intensified and the atmosphere became hot with passion.

 

"Alright then, Polnareff! You think you can stop this Despair?! Then get up here and show me what you can do! Let's see if you're a better fighter than your sister ever was!" JUDE howled.

 

Polnareff was furious. How dare she bring Sherry into this!

 

In his mind, he knew she was simply baiting him into making a stupid move and getting himself killed. He knew that the old Polnareff would have fallen for it and charged straight ahead without thinking. He knew this was a trap of sorts.

 

That was why he fought to not let his anger control him. He didn't know if Jotaro, Mister Joestar, or Kakyoin would show up soon. It was just him and JUDE. If he was getting into this fight, he'd have to fight with passion, determination, but also smarts! He couldn't let her get to him.

 

But neither would he back down!

 

Polnareff had no choice but to take the step forward! This was not just a step up the stairs towards JUDE. This was a step towards reclaiming his soul and pride from the woman who stole both from him!

 

So he took the first step up the stairs to begin the fight-

 

_What?! How did-_ Polnareff had thought he had taken a step up. He was sure of it. But instead he had gone down the stairs?! Yes! It was somehow true! He tried to take a step up but went two steps down!

 

"Wow...is this..." JUDE's fake confusion gave way to her eyes widening and cooing too loudly for it to be real. "Is this a confession?! Did you fall in love with me and can't bear to fight? Did your true cowardly self come out? Do you really want to be with me forever?"

 

He tried to move forward again. Surely he had done it before, but this time he would step in and fight!

 

He remained in the exact same spot. If anything, it felt like he stepped back!

 

"What?! But I'm certain I took a step-up." Polnareff couldn't believe it. What was happening?!

 

JUDE looked down on him, but this time, she had changed. He could tell that she was no longer joking around.

 

How did he know?

 

Because her voice dropped in pitch. It was deeper and carried less mockery and more the enjoyment only the sickest of torturers had when a new victim came to them.

 

"Polnareff, are you losing your composure? Is your Hope draining away? Or is it that your mind believes you wish to fight, but the body and soul know what'll happen if you climb these steps. Deep down, your true nature is forcing you to back down while giving you the delusion of courage."

 

"Impossible! I'm not giving up." Polnareff dashed up the stairs- he was sure he did! But then he was right back on the bottom again! "Damnit!"

 

_How is this happening? I know my own desires. They're telling me to fight! This has to be the work of her Stand. It can't be._ Polnareff had been told of the Major Arcana by Avdol. Of all the Stand-users they fought, only one card from the Tarot was left. The card wielded by JUDE!  _The World! But just what can it do?_

 

"You know something about humans?" She asked, ignoring Polnareff's struggle, or perhaps manipulating it. "Deep down, everyone thinks they want the same thing. They'll give it a different name, but in the end, it's the same. Humanity is so predictable. Fame, money, family, friends, control, 'freedom', it's all for the same thing. It's all in the name of escaping the anxiety and fear of the unknown. To achieve that state called peace of mind. When people form bonds, it's to find those who'll give them peace of mind. When they do charitable things, it's not for justice, but to give others what they want themselves to attain.

 

"Hope is merely what people feel when they have that peace of mind or are on the path to it. They think it means to conquer their demons and fears and be happy." JUDE smirked. "But what they're really just doing is repressing themselves. They're limiting themselves to the preexisting harmony. For someone like me, who can tell someone's desires and actions in a handful of minutes, I can see every possibility in that preexisting harmony. Do you want to know something?"

 

She chuckled but it was cruel and void of kindness. "It's boring. Humanity doesn't have infinite potential. I'll what does have infinite potential." JUDE's eyes widened and her voice picked up a wild undertone. She'd become the priest of her own church! "Despair! The feeling that comes when you break your bonds, abandon your dreams, and surrender yourself to the anxiety and fears! When you stop trying to repress yourself or find reason in suffering and just go long for the ride! Who cares about the rules of man and nature?! We're not gonna take it anymore! We're gonna bring it all down! Reach into the infinite!"

 

Her pupils almost covered her eyes entirely and she appeared drunk off her own words. This was not JUDE playing around, this was her true face and those were her feelings.

 

"So Polnareff, why not join me? Why not discard all your troubles and just have fun? See what happens when the Joestars arrive and you stab them in the face! See what happens when you stop caring and enjoy yourself? If you don't, you're just gonna die or end up some crippled shit waiting to die one day like the rest of humanity?! Isn't that why you've been so afraid to fight me?!"

 

_Am I subconsciously submitting to her? Am I so afraid of her that I'm refusing to fight? Avdol, Iggy, give me courage!_ Polnareff leapt up the next few steps and summoned Silver Chariot immediately.

 

"I will learn the identity of your Stand, JUDE! I will not let you kill me again!" He cried as his Stand began to fly towards JUDE.

 

"I knew you'd say that." JUDE grinned as The World appeared behind her. It was a giant divided in white and black colours, Polnareff recognising the bear heads along parts of its body, and easily towered over Silver Chariot. Just like it's user, it looked like a mad ruler of its own kingdom. "It's useless, useless, useless, useless!!!"

 

Silver Chariot and The World made their way towards the other. Silver Chariot carried Polnareff's will to never again be the pathetic wretch he once was. The World moved with a thin and cruel smile to match its user's. Both Stands prepared to strike!

 

That was when Polnareff heard the wall behind him collapse. Sunlight poured over his back and even JUDE raised a hand to avert her eyes. How long had it been since she had seen it with her own eyes? Is that why she hadn't stopped smiling.

 

If that was why, then surely the arrival of Mister Joestar, Jotaro, and Kakyoin would wipe it off. Polnareff's friends had arrived! It was four on one now! The three of them glared up the stairs and pointed right at JUDE. It was a message to her that the end had come.

 

"Mister Joestar!" Polnareff cried in relief. The built-up tension in his body was already falling away.

 

"Don't worry, Polnareff." Mister Joestar said. He looked up at the vampire, clearly ready for a fight.

 

JUDE, on the other hand, was happier to stand aloof of them. She jumped lightly in the air and slowly moved back the way she came. The only thing that was left of her was the echo of her laughter. It was luring them on to come follow her. To test the overwhelming might of The World.

 

It wasn't like they had a choice.

 

"JUDE, you're not getting away from us now! This is the end!" Mister Joestar shouted as he, Jotaro, and Kakyoin began to run towards the stairs.

 

"Wait!" Polnareff shouted. "Before you go, you need to know about her Stand." He bit his lip and shook lightly. He'd have to control his nerves before they started moving again. "It's something beyond my understanding. I thought I was climbing the stairs to fight her, I was so sure of it! Only, I was going down. She mocked me and tried to tempt me and yet I couldn't fight her. I know how bizarre it sounds. I wouldn't believe me, but...she made me think I was going insane. She wasn't using hypnosis or super speed, but something else. Something much deeper and terrifying."

 

The three of them listened carefully. None of them even thought of denying the gravity of Polnareff's words. If they underestimated JUDE now, they would die.

 

Jotaro spoke first and asked a question Polnareff knew would come but prayed never would.

 

"Where's Avdol and Iggy?" Jotaro asked.

 

Polnareff looked away and felt tears gather in his eyes again. "Th-They didn't make it. They died defeating JUDE's last assassin. They died saving me."

 

Jotaro looked away and his face hardened. The anger in his eyes and poise was undeniable. Mister Joestar and Kakyoin probably felt that same anger, but while Jotaro seemed to keep his mourning inside, they were letting it show and maybe even hold down their anger. They couldn't afford to lose their cool now.

 

"Mister Joestar, the sun is setting. We must hurry." Kakyoin said with a heavy heart.

 

"You're right." Mister Joestar replied.

 

The four of them made their way up the stairs and towards where JUDE would be. They'd have to move quickly now. If they had sunlight on their side, it'd be easy to corner and defeat her. But once night came...

 

They could not allow The World to roam free. Not with the power it seemed to hold and especially not when its user was a woman like JUDE.

 

_Avdol, Iggy, I promise. We're not going to let her get away with this._ Polnareff narrowed his eyes and prepared himself for what was to come.  _Tonight is JUDE's final night plaguing this earth!_

 

\---

 

Nukesaku's face was the only good thing about him.

 

To be specific, his face of confusion and betrayal made for a wonderful despair.

 

The sensation and taste of it was maybe the best and only worthwhile gift that Nukesaku ever gave JUDE in reacting like that.

 

_See, Nukesaku. Who said you were only a disappointment?_ JUDE tried to think back to who said such a cruel and unthinking thing.  _Oh yeah, that was me. My bad._

 

JUDE hid within the very room that the Joestars wanted to be her final battlefield. She had known that they would see through Nukesaku's stupid plan and she knew they'd make him open the coffin. The question had been what to do about it, considering they'd be on their guard and had checked the room before looking at the coffin.

 

_If I didn't have The World, you'd probably have caught me and we'd be fighting. You'd have me at a disadvantage with the sun out._ JUDE merely had to look at her enemies to see them all having heart attacks at the sight of Nukesaku.

 

"Impossible! Did any of you see the moment Nukesaku entered the coffin? No, did any of you see when he was put into the coffin?!" Joseph asked loudly.

 

"I was watching the whole time. I didn't see anything before he was in the coffin." Polnareff barely managed to get the words out.

 

"Polnareff was right. There's no tricks or super-speed. This is entirely the work of her Stand." Kakyoin added. All of them were frozen on the spot and couldn't move.

 

_Perfect._

 

JUDE let joy take hold of her and she began to let out a soft laughter so to fill the room with it. A way to let the four men know that she hadn't gone anywhere. She was right with them and was about to have some fun.

 

"Upupupu..." JUDE let her giggle echo across the room. It filled every bit and crevice and yet hadn't come from any discernable direction.

 

She began moving. She started off slow and gradually began to draw closer towards the back of her first target. She'd make sure to wound him, but he'd best notice what she was doing if he wanted to survive.

 

"We're in danger." Jotaro hissed. He turned his head slightly. It didn't matter. JUDE's presence closed in on his back as she prepared to begin cutting them down one by one! "Something here's truly dangerous. It's drawing closer!"

 

Joseph was the first to retreat. "Run! We have to escape!" He barked, as all but one made their way for the open window.

 

"Damnit!" Polnareff cried. The idiot wasn't moving an inch.

 

"What are you doing, Polnareff?!" Joseph cried out as the vines of Hermit Purple wrapped themselves around his neck and pulled him away.

 

He fell just out of reach. The sunlight proved an effective barrier to JUDE's reach. She had known it would end this way but wanted to try before giving up. She almost had him too!

 

_It'd be no fun to chase them down with The World alone._ JUDE thought to herself. It was just her now. In the entire mansion that once teemed with her followers, now only she remained.

 

The sun would set in a matter of minutes. Darkness would fall over Cairo and she would be free to follow the Joestars and make quick work of them. Would they run or fight? Would they work together or use a pincer? Either way, they'd have to think and prepare fast.

 

_Because when the sun's gone and the night comes, that's when the hunt begins._ JUDE felt the hunger come to her and knew it would be sated.

 

Tonight, she'd have her fill of blood and Despair.


	17. Revolution

**Arc Three: Dangan Crusaders**

 

****Chapter Thirteen: Revolution** **

 

 

\---

 

Senator Wilson Phillips was the top of his class at college. He was the captain of the wrestling team, respected and admired by his peers. He was an esteemed member of the US Senate, had a wife twenty-five years younger than him, and a massive villa in Hawaii.

 

He was a man who stood on top of the world and did not know of suffering or pain. He could fake understanding for the voters, but had never been troubled. Physically, mentally, and spiritually, he was a man who lived well. He was a man who lived with a peace of mind.

 

A man like him was fated to be President someday, surely?

 

But not this pathetic fool. A man whose bodyguard was taken down with a twist of the wrist, breaking bones and spewing blood, by some kind of tranny. A man whose top front teeth were ripped from his mouth in one tug and nose was broken by a mere back-hand. A man who served as the lowly chauffeur to the woman who assaulted him.

 

How could such a man be Senator Wilson Phillips?

 

He did not know and he did not have time to figure it out. All he could do was follow the commands given and follow the car the woman told him to chase. Even if it was in the middle of the rush hour and it was impossible to do such a thing.

 

No. Not impossible. Escape. Now that was impossible. He had tried to leave and found himself inside the car right by the driver's seat. It was mind-boggling and he did not want to know how it happened.

 

Wilson Phillips' priorities right now were to play catch-up. He had to reach that car by any means necessary.

 

"Well? Just drive on the side-walk." The woman snapped. She scowled at him and with each word her tongue wiggled out, yet somehow she had perfect pronunciation. "It's not like there's any traffic there."

 

"B-But, what about the people! There must be dozens of them! All returning from work to reach their families!" The Senator protested. Why did he think she cared? Was it merely for his own conscience? It must have been, for this woman had no such thing.

 

"I know! That's the fun part! You'll kill them all just to save your own skin! All of their lives, all of their families, will be broken." She replied with a line of dribble running down both sides of her mouth. Wiping at it with her sleeve, she stared at him with eyes bursting with excitement. "Doesn't that excite you? So do it already!"

 

"Y-Yes, Ma'am!" The Senator said. He turned the steering wheel and positioned the car to begin driving onto the sidewalk.

 

"Go at full speed. I wanna hit as many of them as possible." The woman commanded. There was no emotion in her voice this time.

 

"Right." Senator Phillips nodded and put his foot on the accelerator.

 

He always liked driving fast in expensive cars. It was a hobby he shared with lobbyists and colleagues alike. The feel of the wind through the car and the sensation of going at speeds Man could never reach on their own.

 

The Senator also knew the risks, however. For those pedestrians, the odds of dying when hit by a car going at 40mph was about 80% back in the seventies, although medical technology advances were helping. Not that those advances were known or existed for the people of this street.

 

At 70mph? Anyone cursed to be walking the streets at this time were either going to be crippled or killed at this rate. Phillips winced when he felt the first body be struck by the car. The woman didn't die easily, as she was sent to the floor and then crushed by a front and back wheel.

 

The car bumped and broke through crowds of people. Some leapt into the still traffic and others hoped the shops would either have an inside or some cover. He must have run over dozens of men, woman, and even a few children. He could see their corpses flop over the windscreen and roof or simply be crushed under the wheels.

 

Behind him was surely a path of broken bones, humans seeing the light of heaven, and those who had already reached it. None of them were spared from pain unless they had seen him coming.

 

His pristine car was now coated in red. Along the front were multiple bumps left by the many bodies he murdered and the windscreen itself was almost entirely coated with blood until the windscreen wipers cleaned it off. Phillips swore he heard the woman behind him whine like a teenage girl at that.

 

There was no way back from this. People would know whose car this was and the status of the owner. Senator Wilson Phillips had just become a mass murderer in a matter of seconds. People would never believe his story!

 

An entire life's work- no, an entire life itself had its foundations crumble to dust.

 

_But that doesn't matter! Nothing matters! What counts is that I live right? I did what she wanted, so I'll live! That makes sense! Even in a world where I jump outside and end up inside!_ Phillips turned his head to the woman and tried to join in with her laughter. He did not know what she'd do.

 

She didn't stop, so he must have done something right! The two of them began to laugh together. The car was now being filled with some sort of merriment. That built bonds and those with ties didn't just kill one another, right? That was how it worked in the world?

 

Yet maybe she wasn't appeased. Maybe Phillips had done a poor job of hiding how broken his laughter was.

 

"After all I've done for you...after all these lengths, you let me live right?" He asked. He was desperate for an answer. He needed one! The woman smiled and spoke.

 

"Senator Phillips, I read you in an instant. You're a man of high-standing, someone who's never known suffering in his life, and someone on the path to great things. A man of supreme confidence." She said before her eyes lit up. She slapped her hands against his cheeks, loosening some of his molars, and began squishing and stretching them. "But now here you are! People will recognise your car's licence plate. I've destroyed the career you've worked hard to build, a reputation that not even death will rebuild, and I've made you into a servant of a, what was it you called me, a tranny?! After all that, it'd make sense that I'd let you live and languish in Despair, right?"

 

"Yes! Exactly! Even if it's the life of a rat scouring for shit and trash to eat, it's better than dying, right?" He began laughing again. See! Just like before!

 

They were both happy and the woman got what she wanted. They were starting to catch up with whoever angered her and she got to watch people die. After so many painful deaths, would she really bore herself with him? He gave her what she wanted, so she'd let him live. He did good enough, right?!

 

From the rear-view mirror, he saw all emotion leave her face.

 

"You won't even survive this car-ride. That is the despair-filled reality you live in."

 

Her words sank into his mind. Not even a single second had passed. He had been forced to register the cruel reality before him.

 

Wilson Phillips began to laugh. Why wouldn't he laugh?! It was a joke! Jokes were funny and you laughed at them! Like the last few minutes! It didn't matter if the joke didn't make any sense of was utterly cruel!

 

What else would he expect in a world of nightmares?! Sense? Reason? Hope?

 

_Of course. A Senator like me can't die this way. It has to be a dream. That means I can do what I want. It doesn't matter what I do. I'm not at fault. I'm a victim. This is a dream. This is a dream!!!_

 

Senator Wilson Phillips might have felt the entirety of his eyes begin to shift into a swirling pattern. He may have even noticed the soft giggle and twitches that overcame him. He'd have definitely noticed the woman's ecstatic grin.

 

But he was gone. All that was left was the broken man whose body was filling up with despair. He had abandoned his former self with all his hopes and dreams. What good were they in a nightmare?

 

Better to hold onto the fear and anxieties! Why not embrace the despair that haunted him? He was going to die and end the nightmare already! So why not join in with this woman's madness!

 

As he succumbed to despair, it almost felt good.

 

\---

 

JUDE didn't expect her feet to touch wire.

 

Correction, a fleshy tendril of sorts.

 

She also didn't expect to see a hail of emeralds come rushing towards her. With a speed no human could ever imagine reaching, JUDE blocked the projectiles with her forearms and flew back slightly. She didn't see the boy himself but she knew what this was.

 

_Kakyoin's Emerald-_ JUDE had no time to think. Another flurry was heading straight for her back! She span in place and swatted them away with her arms alone, even as they slowly pushed her back.

 

It was like in the car with the fat guy. Kakyoin had tried to take her out at a distance. It was a useless move as all it did was provide JUDE with some roadside entertainment. How many emeralds could she deflect with a single finger? Working out the proper direction and force was basic mathematics. The next attack had been swatted away with a single hand as if they were a fly.

 

But this was different. She didn't have any warning nor was she remaining still. The attacks were slowly pushing her in certain directions and then triggering another hail of emeralds. JUDE felt like a pinball hitting each different target and being bounced to another. JUDE was deflecting them, sure, but there was no control here.

 

Before she knew it, her leg was caught and she was like a fox almost caught in a trap. Still free but disoriented and open to an ambush. She barely had time to recognise the work of Kakyoin's Stand before his Emerald Splash rushed at her. There was no time for an elegant deflection!

 

She kicked high with her right leg and managed to redirect most of them away and towards the giant sign to her left. She heard them impact and knew that these carried a lot more force than the ones before. It was a matter of seconds before the sign would collapse.

 

And her left shoulder was bleeding. One of the emeralds got her good.

 

JUDE's eyes scanned her surroundings during this brief interlude. She managed to land on the roof of a building, if on its tip, and put her talent to work. She analysed every green line that spread across her surroundings. Every last one of them was a trip-wire that only needed a single touch to activate.

 

She was completely and utterly surrounded. Hierophant Green had spread itself out like a spider's web and JUDE was the fly caught inside. The tables had seemingly turned and now she was the prey being hunted.

 

JUDE searched for an escape route. Her heart was pumping as she connected the dots and began wondering if Kakyoin had actually pulled it off. Surely there must have been some escape route small enough for her to leave from?!

 

No.

 

There were none.

 

This was the perfect trap. A web of barriers spreading 20m that had JUDE trapped in the very centre. Any movement from where she stood would trigger one of them, which in turn would start a sequence of triggering the others, and she'd have to deflect countless Emerald Splashes.

 

_I can deflect some of them, maybe even most of them, but a few will get me. A few will actually harm me!_ JUDE couldn't believe it. If even a single one of them struck her brain in the right area, it'd kill her. She tried to find a way that The World could escape with only brute force while keeping her brain intact. It finally hit her.  _There's none. There's no way I can force my way through this with my vampire powers or The World's strength alone. He trapped me._

 

"This is-"

 

"That's right!" Kakyoin cried out. He was standing on a metal tower, his feet delicately perched on the tip, and not once did his balance shake. "JUDE, you said you can analyse anything and anyone with a single look. So you know that Hierophant's barrier, activated when touched, can extend to 20m! I've placed it at all the right angles and trajectories that you can't possibly escape! I can sense every movement you or The World make! There's no escape now!"

 

JUDE sensed Joseph nearby. With him, Kakyoin's trap now had the potential to add Ripple. Even without it, however, there was no hesitation inside him. Both she and him stared each other down and neither would give in. There was none of the weakness and pitiful nature that she had found in him months ago. This was a new man.

 

Too bad JUDE was going to kill him anyway.

 

The sign that had been struck broke and began to fall from the building. It was a good enough signal for the two to make their move. JUDE let Kakyoin make the first move.

 

"Take this, JUDE! Hierophant Green's 20m Emerald Splash!" Kakyoin's words were met by Hierophant Green's tendrils all firing at once. Dozens if not hundreds of green crystals came flying straight for her on all sides.

 

There was no escape. If JUDE used The World's speech alone, she'd get far, but not enough. No matter what she did, or how precise she was, it'd be inevitable that one of the emeralds would pierce her skull and destroy her brain. This was it. JUDE would die. Not to a Joestar, but to someone she wrote off as a side-character.

 

It was on the border between Despair and disappointment. It had even overcome her analysis!

 

Is what she'd say if it weren't for The World's true power. The power she stole from JoJo.

 

"Kakyoin, this trap is one of a kind! If I hadn't unlocked the Stand that'll sink this world into Despair, maybe I'd be drowning in it myself!" JUDE said. Her eyes bulged and her mouth was wide and she must have looked like a caged beast. The most dangerous kind! "But that's not happening! Kakyoin, prepare to see the end of your Hope and this world! You think I called this Stand The World just because of the Major Arcana?! You think you'll ever find redemption for your actions?! I could talk about the nurse and the schoolgirls and all the innocents you made into puppets and toys all day, but who cares?! You think this is where you take the stage and defeat the villain? Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! My Stand has a power that encompasses the world! Are you ready for it?!"

 

The projectiles flew closer. They were inches from her as she cruelly mocked Kakyoin's greatest attack yet. JUDE, who should have been screaming in frustration, instead sniggered and didn't even flinch.

 

"The World!" She cried out as her Stand manifested and the fight ended.

 

It ended because, when JUDE was done, there wouldn't even be a mini-second between the moment of Kakyoin's victory and the moment of Kakyoin's death.

 

JUDE stretched out her limbs first thing. She didn't want to pull a muscle now! She even spared a bit to practice her boxing technique, or rather the techniques she copied from spying on Martha and JoJo all those years ago. Yep, she still had it!

 

_Let's get started._ JUDE wasted no time in leaping forward. At her speed, and in the world of stopped time, she might as well have been flying.

 

The World cut through the barrier of Hierophant Green as if it was nothing. In the world of stopped time, the barrier would never activate, and JUDE could safely head straight for him.

 

He seemed so full of confidence, so full of determination, and so full of Hope. He truly believed he had done something of value.

 

JUDE looked down on the fool who thought he could defeat Despair.

 

"This is The World. You're in the world of stopped time where you can't see or feel its presence. You won't even know how you died. You'll simply know that your plan had failed miserably and that all of your friends are going to die." JUDE explained. He would never hear these words, but would know it in his heart.

 

The World, with a snicker, punched Kakyoin's chest and easily tore through flesh and bone to the other side.

 

"I wonder what your eyes will look like. What will you feel when you go flying back into that water tower and die? To know that you'll die knowing that you'll have never avenged those caught in your Despair? To know that you died just the same way as you lived; a tool for me?" JUDE asked as she moved in close enough that her lips were almost touching his. "I can't wait to see that despair. I'll drink it in and let me fuel me the same as when I kill Joseph, Polnareff, and Jotaro. You have the honour of being the first meal of the main course."

 

The time-limit was near. It'd be for the best if JUDE didn't stand directly in front of Kakyoin. She wanted to see Joseph's despair too!

 

"I'll get out of the way. Even a side-character like you deserves the spotlight for their death-scene. Think of how you came into the miserable existence of Noriaki Kakyoin and die without fanfare." JUDE capped off her words by using Kakyoin's body to kick off from.

 

Gently floating upwards in the air, JUDE waited on the right spot where Joseph wouldn't see her. A clear sign that she had escaped Kakyoin's trap while Joseph would still have all eyes on his dead friend.

 

Five seconds had passed.

 

_And time starts again._ JUDE thought to herself. She paid no attention other than to look at his eyes.

 

There was shock at JUDE being gone. Then came pain and anguish at the wound in his chest. Then the morbid realisation that he had just been murdered.

 

Then he flew back towards the water tower.

 

"Kakyoin!" Joseph shouted in lovely horror.

 

JUDE felt it. It ignited like a bomb inside Joseph's heart. The shockwaves smashed against her body and it felt amazing. Her heart was racing, her body was alight with a fire so much like the Ripple, and she wanted to just slap herself silly! She knew this feeling in her heart; a feeling that barely any other murder gave her.

 

It was the first time she'd felt it since she had killed JoJo. The feeling of having snuffed out Hope and leaving only Despair in its place.

 

_One down,_ JUDE looked down at Joseph and thought of Jotaro and Polnareff off somewhere looking for her.  _And three to go._

 

\---

 

Joseph swung through the rooftops of Cairo with Hermit Purple as his rope. He had to keep moving or he'd be dead. He couldn't slow down one bit whilst JUDE was chasing him down. No matter if his arm ached or the wind was getting into his eyes.

 

Now that he knew The World's true power, he needed to keep distance no matter what.

 

"The World can stop time and keep moving? That's its power?" He said to himself. He leapt over another roof for cover. "That's too dangerous!"

 

JUDE lurked behind him with the kind of confidence only gained when you knew victory was near. She probably saw this as a way to play with Joseph. He was using everything he could to run and she merely had to take a leap- or actually fly. Knowing Joseph's luck, it was probably actual flight! How was he supposed to win?!

 

_Calm down, Joseph! There's no point in panicking. Kakyoin wouldn't have left that message if there wasn't a way to win. I don't even know the meaning of the word 'panic'._ Joseph, after regaining his senses, turned to look back at JUDE who was content to follow him. She must have thought herself a shark toying with its prey.  _There's a way to defeat you. There's a way to find The World's weakness and break through it to defeat you!_

 

An idea hit him. It was crazy and probably wouldn't work. But the same was true for a lot of his plans! He even defeated Kars, the Perfect Being, by instinct alone! Maybe that luck would hit him again. If he relied on JUDE wanting to personally kill or plain tear him apart, it could work.

 

It was his best and only shot.

 

He looked back and saw JUDE for a moment before she vanished into thin air. There was no time. Literally! He had to be quick and find somewhere to land. Stopping by a nearby roof, he leapt over some cover and used the tiles for friction to slow himself down. Some of them even came loose.

 

Joseph had to be quick about this. He was lucky Hermit Purple came already-coiled around his arm. That'd make it easier.

 

After he finished a single breath, he felt a cold chill behind him that he hadn't felt in decades. The cold that could only belong to the walking dead. JUDE was right behind him! He span in place and saw The World about to strike him. He closed his eyes and prepared for a lot of pain!

 

Pain that never came.

 

Centimetres from his torso was The World's fist. Just as it came swiftly, it retracted with that same speed. Joseph saw the burn marks along the fingers, but they were barely first-degree at worst. Like touching an oven-tray straight out from the oven but pulling away in time.

 

Joseph used it regardless to jump back and build some distance. He tried to bait her, "Hey, JUDE! Don't be afraid! Weren't you planning on feasting on my blood? Making me cry out in pain? Huh?" He asked. JUDE, however, merely matched his mocking grin.

 

"The only reason I even let it burn was to feel it again. The last time that Ripple will ever hurt me." She said. She looked down at his chest, probably noticing the vines of Hermit Purple. "Wrapping yourself in Hermit Purple so that I'd hit myself with Ripple. You'd risk at least broken ribs all to kill me. You really are JoJo's grandson!"

 

"And Erina's! Don't forget that!" He snapped. He wouldn't forgive JUDE for disrespecting her like that.

 

"I don't know what she told you, but she wasn't always a saint. Back in our childhood, she kissed Martha in front of everyone. Too bad Martha was a pervert who only got off on her baby sister. I wonder if JoJo was just the rebound." JUDE closed her eyes and shook her head as if she was a concerned mother!

 

"What's the matter? Your attempts to make me pissed are working great but you're so transparent it just makes me keep my guard up even more." Joseph replied. "Or did you think I'd forget that your Stand has a time-limit."

 

JUDE clapped like she was rewarding a child for spelling their name right. "Good! It'd be boring if you were an idiot! How'd you figure it out?"

 

"It must be three to four seconds. If it was however long you liked, you'd have either killed us or brought us to the brink of death at the mansion. JUDE, The World is not perfect! You're not the only one who can read people and the situation."

 

"You really are good at predictions. Your wife must hate you for never entering the lottery!" JUDE's smile became a terrible sneer and she spat out, "But you're nothing compared to me. If you were, you'd be on my side."

 

"I was talking about Kakyoin! The one who truly figured you out. The one you wrote off as a side-character!" Joseph had to fight the urge to try and hit her for that. He had to be careful, if he wanted to avenge his friend! "I won't let his death be for nothing!"

 

"Kakyoin's death is going to mean the same as the deaths of all your loved ones! Jack-shit! Erina, Speedwagon," JUDE smirked and took a step forward. "And Caesar too! Fitting since your Ripple is fifty years out of date!"

 

"Hermit Purple and Ripple!" Joseph raised his right wrist and shot out purple vines charged with as much Ripple as he could summon.

 

"Retard! Did you even check your surroundings?!" The World moved and struck a nearby chimney, turning it to rubble flying his way!

 

Joseph had panicked after all. He had forgotten about the chimney and the fact that JUDE and The World both had god-like precision! The stones and tiles both shot towards him at enough speed to tear through him.

 

It was his Hermit Purple and Ripple that saved him. A blow to the stomach was cushioned by his Stand and bruised a rib at most. It didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell, but he could still move.

 

Which was important when you were flying off a roof. Joseph stretched out his arm and sent Hermit Purple towards one of the railings of a balcony. He had to find a way to lessen his falling speed or he'd be a sitting duck! The purple vine managed to wrap itself around in time.

 

It still meant he crashed onto the ground and still meant that he was in a lot of pain. He was hurting and being chased by a vampire with powers he couldn't imagine. She was even just toying with him! Joseph needed Jotaro or Polnareff nearby to warn them!

 

After that, he didn't know what he could even do.

 

\---

 

JUDE had come to embrace the paradox of a world of stopped time.

 

It was meant to be a world where time did not apply and yet was defined by the limits it could be sustained. Even as that limit weakened, it still existed. Somehow, a world without restrictions had restrictions.

 

It boggled the mind and made JUDE all the happier for it.

 

As of now, it had came just as Joseph was telling his grandson all about what the big bad JUDE's Stand could do. JUDE might have done something to Jotaro to break Joseph, but the kid was out of her range. She'd have to work with gramps instead.

 

_Still, I can have a bit of fun._ JUDE saw the trio eating, the couple, the woman having a cigarette, and the cat. All positioned just right for her to pull something off.  _Yeah, I can work with this._

 

"You know, Joseph, when I first stopped time, it was only for the blink of an eye. I wondered what the point was, even with my speed, for such a Stand." JUDE said. "But then my neck started healing more. The line between Judith Eydris' head and Jonathan Joestar's body was fading and Despair was born."

 

She smacked her hand against the cat and tore it to shreds. Its head sent the burger in one man's hands flying. He'd only notice after swallowing the first bite. One of its paws landed in the drink of the first man's friend. He too would only realise after swallowing. Lastly, its body landed on the plate.

 

JUDE was pleased with that.

 

"The power to stop time that JoJo had within him now belonged to me. All I had to do was believe in myself," JUDE perked up and made a thumbs-up sign. "That's an important lesson to all the boys and girls! If you just believe in yourself, and put in the work, you can achieve! So long as you have actual talent, of course. Otherwise, you're fucked, while people like me learn to stop time for two, then three seconds."

 

She began walking towards Joseph. There was no rush or panic in her steps. She was a bear getting ready to take a swipe at the salmon of the river, only this one had flopped out of the current and was easy-prey.

 

"I wonder how it feels to be JoJo. To know that the power within his soul is being used to not only spread despair instead of hope, but to also exterminate his descendants! Ah, if only I could speak to him again for real!" JUDE grinned and stared as if she was looking at some unseen observer, watching and judging her through the key moments of her life. "That's right! I know the skull was just me putting on a voice! Being such a pathetic freak brought me so much despair that I kept up the act! You didn't really think I thought he stayed on this earth, did you?"

 

When JUDE reached the restaurant, she slammed her forearm against the jaw of the man standing outside it. His teeth shattered and his nose broke while he fell onto the boyfriend feeding his girlfriend. Now he was stabbing her cheek with his fork. Meanwhile, the woman looking for a smoke was now scorching her nose.

 

JUDE only regretted that none of the injuries would be permanent. But she only had so much time in a world without time.

 

"Dead's dead! I killed JoJo, just like I killed Martha, and now I'm running out of ways to top that kind of feeling! There's only so many times you can attempt to bring it back or find something better!" JUDE wiped away the spit and anger with one hand. She'd forgotten where she was going with this. "But I'm getting off-track. Sorry, but being the kind of girl who's consistent is boring. It's better to be strange! Like imagining that five seconds is an actual thing in the world of stopped time."

 

And so she finally reached Joseph Joestar. The most long-lived Joestar male in about four generations was about to die by the same hand that ultimately slew the last three generations.

 

His hand was reaching out to the grandson he would never touch again and there was a look of fear about him. Was this how he felt when fighting a being who could adapt to anything?

 

Or had JUDE's Despair surpassed even perfection?

 

"Time is just a human construct. It's a limit we place on ourselves. Just as I grow stronger when discarding humanity, The World grows as I abandon such ideas like time and family." JUDE turned slightly so she could look at him directly. "A minute, an hour, and then I will be able to stop time forever, if I wish! Like that episode of the Twilight Zone!"

 

Without thinking, she raised her hand and prepared to chop Joseph's head off with a single swing. Jotaro would watch helplessly as his grandfather's head would roll down towards his feet! JUDE wondered what kind of cry of absolute despair she'd hear from him!

 

Oh, it'd be wonderful to do it!

 

"But I can't," JUDE confessed with a sigh. "Ripple may be a tired, out-of-date, cliche way of killing me by now, but it's still a thing. Guess I'll have to be creative. After all," JUDE beamed as she pulled the knife she took from a nearby table and readied her aim. "Isn't a slow death much more fun than a quick one?!"

 

She threw the knife straight at the centre of Joseph's neck. There'd be no permanent damage to his internal organs, but the blood-loss and oxygen-deprivation alone would kill him, if not the shock.

 

It stopped just short of his skin. Not that it mattered. JUDE had done it.

 

"JoJo! I just killed your grandson!" She cried out to no one. It was so stupid she had to laugh. "Upupu, not like you'd know. As for Jotaro..."

 

She looked back at the results of her walk. The chaos she had caused and the panic that would ensue. Men going out for a meal discovering that they ate a dead cat, the man assaulting his lover accidentally, the disfigured gentleman, and the scarred woman.

 

Not to mention the death of Joseph Joestar, right before Jotaro's very eyes.

 

"Let's see what happens when this last second ends." JUDE lowered her finger and the final second passed.

 

Time resumed, all hell broke loose, and JUDE basked in the despair of it all.

 

It wouldn't be the last time she'd do it tonight either.

 

\---

 

Jotaro heard a lot of screaming. Mostly from pain or horror at what they just ate. Any other day, he'd have ignored it just because the noise got on his nerves. He'd probably beat up the culprit, since they'd be an asshole, but still ignore it.

 

Right now? Right now, he was ignoring the noise because he had just seen his grandfather get a knife to _the fucking throat_.

 

"Gramps!" Jotaro started to run when the old man shouted.

 

"Stop!" Gramps raised a hand as if he thought he could actually reach him. His eyes had a sheen of both desperation and acceptance that Jotaro never wanted to see again. "St-stay back...Jotaro...R-run! Don't get...near her..."

 

Steam was coming from his neck, specifically the river of blood drenching out from it. It was probably something to do with that Ripple Gramps had. The Ripple that was meant to kill vampires and yet JUDE was smugly standing over Gramps' body while he was bleeding out. And all Jotaro could do was watch.

 

"K-keep your di-distance..." Hermit Purple tried to extend his reach but all it did was crackle slightly with the Ripple. "Y-You-You're no match..."

 

Gramps' eyes rolled over and he stopped talking. Hermit Purple burnt to pieces and disappeared from sight. Jotaro knew what this meant. A Stand went away when you got knocked out and couldn't sustain it much longer. That, or you were dead.

 

_He's not dead. Not yet._ Jotaro was sure of it. Not even a knife to the throat would kill him that easily. Jotaro wouldn't accept any other possibility!

 

JUDE's smile went from ear to ear, showing every last one of her teeth, as she raised a hand to cover it. False-politeness to piss all over Gramps.

 

"Upupupu...Joseph Joestar, the man who survived the perfect being, died by my hand. His last words were a message of total despair! He died like a bitch!" JUDE cackled like the hideous witch she was. Just looking at that face made Jotaro grit his teeth and sharpen his glare. JUDE put a finger on her chin and faked inquisitiveness. "Oh, did I mention that Kakyoin's dead? Sorry, I know he was close to you...or should I say he wanted to be close to your mother."

 

Jotaro did the only thing he could do right now and scowl harder. Put all of his hatred and anger into his eyes and shoot it off at JUDE's direction. He refused to show her any more emotion than that. He had to keep his cool, no matter what.

 

His emotions would have to just bubble inside until he could pour it all into Star Platinum's fists.

 

"Polnareff's probably somewhere. I wanted to kill him before getting to you, but..." JUDE's smile was long and toothy and made Jotaro want nothing more than to punch it off. "I can live with a disappointing climax every now and then."

 

JUDE pointed at Jotaro as she said this. It was obvious she wanted to jerk him around last so she could make a big deal. That was why Jotaro's face didn't budge an inch. He'd stay pissed-off but otherwise calm. Let JUDE be the one who was going all over the place.

 

"Jotaro, I'll make you despair like I made Joseph and Kakyoin. I'll take that cool exterior and crack it open! I wonder what kind of mess you'll be when I break you." JUDE was drooling like a dog. All the while she was going on about the same stuff she always did.

 

He could control his facial expressions but he couldn't stop himself from digging his fingernails into his palms and being so ready to end her.

 

"You bitch." Jotaro spat. He made his way towards her. "JUDE, I'm going to break your skull in for what you've done."

 

"You're actually getting close to me? I never expected you to do this," JUDE blushed and acted like those noisy, annoying girls from his school. He'd take them any day for the rest of his life, if it meant killing JUDE. "I've never been approached so boldly before! Kyaaaa! I don't know what to say!"

 

"How about you save me the trouble and kill yourself?" He asked without slowing down one bit.

 

"Shouldn't that be my line?" JUDE shot back. "Like a high-school boy desperately trying to lose his virginity before graduation, Joseph told you the secret of The World. You really think you can overcome that? You have such Hope?"

 

"I can't beat the shit out of you without getting closer."

 

"Phooey. Not even my old man beat me. A good thing too! He could have killed me with a single back-hand!"

 

"I'll correct that mistake."

 

If Jotaro thought he touched a nerve, JUDE's face lighting up corrected that. "I'd like to see you try." She said, starting to walk towards him too.

 

The two of them walked until they were just beyond an arm's length from one another. JUDE looked at him with hungry eyes and Jotaro kept focused on his smouldering hatred.

 

Star Platinum was the first to strike as it came out and threw a right punch straight for JUDE. Jotaro didn't think it'd connect, but just wanted to be the one to force JUDE on the defensive.

 

The World was quicker, however, and it kicked Star Platinum right in the side of the left shin. Jotaro felt the fabric of his trousers burn away and a heavy force smash against his leg. He looked down to find a bright red mark against his left shin that might as well have come from a hammer.

 

_Shit, that's gonna sting._ Jotaro swallowed down the pain and emotions and just scowled at JUDE who was practically orgasming right now.

 

"You think moving that slow is going to help? You really think you can overcome this despair with that? Even without stopping time, I can crush your hopes and dreams under my boot!" JUDE shouted extending a hand to close her grip for effect. It made her golden bracelet jingle when she moved.

 

He ignored her ranting. All that stuff about hope being crushed and despair triumphing was getting on his nerves. He didn't give a shit. JUDE was just the woman who'd been causing his family grief for a century and tonight was where it'd end.

 

Nothing more. Nothing less.

 

"So it's the same type of Stand as Star Platinum. Fast, strong, precise, but not a lot of range." Jotaro said, focusing on The World. He'd need all the details he could get and wasn't going to give JUDE anything. "Still, was that the power of 'despair' or whatever you call it. A pat on the leg and a rip on my two-hundred-thousand yen trousers?"

 

"I'm going to enjoy making you despair, Jotaro." JUDE said with glee. The World appeared behind her and moved forward.

 

"Enough of this hope and despair crap! Just be ready for the beating of a lifetime!" Star Platinum appeared and rushed to meet The World head-on.

 

The World started with a flurry of punches aimed like a true pro boxer. JUDE probably stole that from Jotaro's great-great-granddad too. Star Platinum did manage to throw up its arms and block them. It even managed to launch a counter with a flurry of kicks against the enemy. But The World was quicker and managed to use a stop-sign as a shield.

 

When the sign got turned to bits, The World tried to fly down and use the opening as a way to slice at Star Platinum with its hand. Before it could even try, Star Platinum had already moved and slammed its forearm against The World's own. Both Stands pushed against each other before they split.

 

Star Platinum moved first this time. A right punch was aimed straight for The World's head and the Stand narrowly managed to avoid it. But that only opened it up! A powerful left jab flew at it and it only just managed to move out of the way. Not before JUDE's left cheek was slightly cut!

 

The World wasn't as superior as JUDE seemed to think. Still, the lunatic seemed happy about being hit.

 

Star Platinum and The World then punched at one another. Both fists landed at the same point as one white hand and one black hand tried to push against purple ones. Both Stands were equal in strength and neither moved from their spot. It gave JUDE a chance to open her mouth again.

 

"How about it, Jotaro? Shall we see which of our Stands is faster?" JUDE asked mockingly. She'd probably already calculated how it'd go down. So he'd just have to break that prediction to bits.

 

Jotaro didn't reply. All he did was get Star Platinum ready for the next big fight.

 

Star Platinum readied its fists and The World beamed and began to let out a familiar but still ugly laughter. It was enough to pain Jotaro's ears, but he didn't give a damn. Star Platinum itself had to start throwing its punches.

 

Both Stands began striking and letting out their battle cries!

 

"Upupupupupupupupupupu!"

 

"Oraoraoraoraoraoraoraora!"

 

Both Star Platinum and The World were roaring at the top of their lungs, although one was a battle cry and the other was laughing. Jotaro and JUDE, however, were complete opposites. Jotaro was doing his best to stay calm and not let the fight get to him. JUDE had that same big smile on her face as always when watching the fight.

 

But Jotaro noticed it when her left eye twitched. So small that it was almost impossible to be certain but he was. She was waiting for something and wasn't getting it.

 

Star Platinum and The World, meanwhile, were continuing to hammer away at each other with their fists. Each time, their blows would meet one another and neither managed to break out. Shockwaves erupted as the Stands used all their might and speed. No one was around to notice, but if they were, they'd be seeing air-blasts the likes of which you'd only get from bombs.

 

There was no precision or tactics here. Just punching as hard and strong as you could. It was raw speed that meant they constantly meeting one another.

 

As Jotaro's body filled with the energy of battle and Star Platinum cut loose, he could feel his feet leaving the ground and going into the sky. He had no time to question it. He just had to assume this was natural as he and JUDE both began to hover into the air, if she was a lot more manic about it. Their Stands did the same and soon all four were in mid-air.

 

All of a sudden, JUDE snapped and the battle took a turn.

 

"Caught you!" JUDE screamed as The World moved its right fist to the right, freeing it to try and knock Star Platinum's head off.

 

The World had almost got Star Platinum with that, but a quick head-movement saved Star Platinum. Until it was left open for a left hook by The World. Jotaro's Stand was pushed back while blood shot out from his mouth and nose. JUDE's face lit up, but it vanished when Jotaro didn't even groan in pain.

 

_Just push it down. Don't give her the satisfaction._ Jotaro had to be the heroes of the Wild West. Don't show the bastard anything and be ready for some gun-slinging.

 

For what it was worth, JUDE didn't seem happy with it, no matter how much she tried to hide it.

 

"Oh? You're still keeping the act up? You know, the tough-guy act isn't as popular as it used to be, or is this you trying to stave off the chill of knowing that The World is superior in every way?" JUDE's irritation gave way to absolute glee. "Not like it matters! Now the time's come for me to kill you!"

 

This was it. She was going to use the same power that helped her murder Kakyoin and Gramps.

 

Jotaro finally let out a roar of anger and determination. He had to land a hit on JUDE and delay her somehow. Just a single blow to the head would be enough! Star Platinum readied a barrage of fists again, but both JUDE and The World stood aloof!

 

"I've learnt that I have to make sure you Joestars don't get up. When I freeze time, I'll blind and cripple you so you can't fight! Then it'll be safe to kill you slowly. You'll be helpless against my Despair!" JUDE leaned back and shouted at the top of her lungs, "The World! Jotaro, experience the hell of stopped-time!"

 

He'd have to ready himself. How to actually prepare for stopped-time, he didn't know. All he could do instead was get his counter ready and pray for the best.

 

_This better work. If it doesn't, I'm screwed._ Jotaro felt the magnets inside his sleeve stick to his jacket's buttons.

 

During the barrage of fists, as JUDE's eye twitched for a single moment, Jotaro had ripped the magnet from his wallet and put it inside his jacket sleeve. It stuck in place thanks to his jacket's buttons, but the important thing was that they were there. Just like with JUDE's bracelets and rings.

 

He had to mess with those analytical powers of hers and trust in his own power. He had to trust in Star Platinum to not be another victim of The World's time-stop.

 

_If The World and Star Platinum are the same type of Stand, then maybe this'll work?_ Jotaro didn't know. He was just going to have to rely on Star Platinum's power and sheer luck for this one. He shot daggers at his enemy.  _JUDE, this is the night I kill you. This is the night that Mom, Avdol, Iggy, Kakyoin, and Gramps, hell even Jonathan Joestar and whoever else you've fucked over, get avenged. You won't even get to ramble on about despair anymore._

 

As he finished his thought, he could feel the world around him come to a stop. Jotaro reached deep inside himself and pulled out everything he had. Star Platinum could move faster than light, right? And some scientists thought that was the secret to time-travel! So maybe that'd help.

 

Or maybe Jotaro would just have to count on Star Platinum being able to move in slowed-down time too. He just had to believe he could do it. After all the crazy shit that happened, why couldn't it?

 

Either way, as time came to a standstill, the battle was only beginning.


	18. Get Back

**Arc Three: Dangan Crusaders  
Chapter Fourteen: Get Back**

\---

  
JUDE didn't think he'd be so predictable.  
  
When Jotaro landed, he probably thought he'd see at least a scratch on his enemy. But, instead, JUDE was standing tall and looking as despairingly beautiful, graceful, and triumphant as ever.  
  
"I guess I have to bash your head in entirely, or it'll be like nothing happened." Jotaro muttered. For seeing someone back in perfect health after all his efforts, he was a bit too calm. "Good grief, have you really lived a life worth clinging onto?"  
  
JUDE smirked at him. That magnet trick of his was actually brilliant. A double-bluff she should have seen coming! Did he have the power to move in stopped-time or was it just magnets? Just when Jude threw off her rings and bracelets and struck again-Pow! Right in the kisser!  
  
Actually, it was more right through the stomach, just as she'd done to Kakyoin. She had been thrown back through a jewellery shop window and had glass tearing through her very body. It even took out a leg! How could she have ever managed to come back from that?!  
  
 _But that lady made for a nice snack._ JUDE spared a look at the store clerk, specifically the thumb lodged in the middle of her throat.  _Still, it's kind of boring at the moment._  
  
Maybe it was just Jotaro. The guy was a goddamn brick wall and shattering his tough-guy persona was tougher than it looked. Every ploy and words she used were just taken without more than a grunt or a curt reply. It took the fun out of the fight!  
  
But maybe she was being too picky. His little trick just now did make her despair at her own stupidity!  
  
"So you do have a head on those big shoulders!" JUDE beamed as she stopped time and leapt for the top of a streetlight.  
  
Jotaro turned his head too late to have moved during that 'time'. It denied her a clue on how his power worked.  
  
"You can move in the world of stopped time." She said to herself. "I must have misjudged you. Your self-belief and Hope managed to help Star Platinum move in stopped-time. Is this a Hope that'll match my Despair?"  
  
"Think what you want. Anything to shut your mouth." Jotaro replied. He spoke in the same tone of voice as before...as always, in fact. It was getting on JUDE's nerves.  
  
"No, no. That's not the right line." JUDE tried to keep a happy voice as she scolded him. The contrast was essential! "You need to double-down on your Hope! You need to talk about how this is the end for the terrible villainy of JUDE! How this is your counter!"  
  
JUDE vanished from Jotaro's sight and jumped for the roof of a small building behind him. She rested her cheek on her right hand and looked down at him. Teenagers could be hard to tell what to do, but this was ridiculous!  
  
Time resumed and she spoke again.  
  
"But maybe you're still dazed. Stopping time's a pretty hard thing to do. You can probably only do it for what? One second? Five seconds?!" JUDE's smile thinned and shortened, but now matched the cruelty in her voice. "Maybe just a single moment?"  
  
She got it. Jotaro's eyes widened and he might as well have screamed that she got it right. She had hoped for some open cursing or a look of more than just shock. She was doing all this for him and he was giving nothing in return!  
  
 _Urgh, maybe I was lucky that Polnareff's last. I can get some tears and real despair out of him._ JUDE said to herself. This was the final battle between Despair and Hope! She needed actual excitement on her end and emotions on the other if she wanted to get anywhere.  
  
"I guess I better kill you now. No sense in letting you get close when you figured out how to copy JoJo's power so easily. I won't say you were fun. Honestly, that little trick was probably your peak. Maybe learn how to emote. Chicks love that in the long-run." JUDE's eyes bulged and she moved her hands behind her back. "Not that you'll ever see another woman again! The last face you'll see will be mine as I slice you to bits, Jotaro!"  
  
Out from her back she revealed a dozen knives in her hands. She had more stacked all over her body but didn't feel the need to tell Jotaro that. JUDE may not have had Martha's instinctual mastery of throwing these things, but she had a good eye herself and a whole lot more strength and speed to use!  
  
Jotaro's eyes almost started bulging. Almost.  
  
JUDE felt the fires in her gut dim some more. Seriously?!  
  
"Oh? That's it? Just a little bit of fear? Even when knowing that the old fart probably had a kinder death than you're about to." JUDE made a big show of her pout. Overacting was the best way of hiding true disappointment. Such as returning a merry despairing grin. "Guess I'll have to do more to get you all worked up!"  
  
Jotaro jumped in the air and away from JUDE. He was obviously trying to get far enough that she couldn't reach him. He almost got far enough from her that even throwing the knives would have been- No, JUDE couldn't do it. He was so fucked and there was nothing he could do to stop it.  
  
Once he realised this, maybe then he'd finally show the Despair JUDE had been craving from him. He would finally break down and JUDE would watch him fall.  
  
But first, she had to catch him.  
  
"Useless!" JUDE hissed. Jotaro barely reached the height of jump when she then stopped time.  
  
Jotaro was as still as a statue. So there was no change there. He just couldn't move beyond half-a-second at most. JUDE wondered if his mind would perceive his surroundings outside that second. It must, otherwise how would he have known when to hit her?  
  
Which meant he could only watch his death come to him.  
  
"Five seconds to do whatever I want!" JUDE threw the knives without a care in the world. When you had this many, you didn't need to worry about aiming or precision!  
  
Which was why she then threw some more knives at him. Then some more. And then a mere extra dozen to top it all off.  
  
"Ah, I wonder how it must feel to see your death and be totally incapable of saving yourself. Not even Star Platinum can deflect all these knives when they're so close to your throat. Your body will be stuffed full and then even more will be forced in!" JUDE felt her blood start pumping again. A fine way to end the life of a man who came this far. "Sorry, Jotaro, but you brought this on yourself. I would have been gentle if you showed more than just that dead-fish face. Three more seconds!"  
  
What the heck! JUDE threw another set of knives which left her with a single solitary one. She'd keep that for when the time came.  
  
Star Platinum burst out from Jotaro and smashed its right fist against the knives to cast them away and then a left hook to do the same. All that agility and power helped it to bat away a lot of the knives. It might have been impressive on its own.  
  
If it weren't for the knives that hadn't been blown away still outnumbered those that had been. All along the back rows were blades aimed straight for Jotaro's vital organs. Even one hitting their target would kill Jotaro nice and slowly.  
  
Jotaro knew this. It was why he shifted his eyes to look at JUDE, who herself was expecting some kind of terror inside them. Yet she found nothing.  
  
"At least you have being frozen in time as an excuse. You could only move for a moment too." JUDE held up her middle and index finger towards Jotaro as both a salute and reminder. "Two seconds before you die!"  
  
JUDE jumped back and sat herself down on a nearby chimney. A girl needed to rest her legs at some point and murdering Jotaro's friends and family took a lot of work! She wanted to at least watch him futilely do his best to survive the nightmare he was trapped in. JUDE raised a single finger and moved it left to right like a timer.  
  
"One second until death. Last chance to get any regrets or pleas for mercy out of the way." JUDE knew he wouldn't even if he could. That was one of the few reasons she still enjoyed this fight. She dropped the finger, looked down at her right wrist, and sighed. "Time's up. Enjoy the painful and excruciating death I designed for you! I put a lot of work into it, so be sure to shout out your appreciation from the bottom of your heart!"  
  
Time resumed and the array of knives began to move. This was going to be like watching Caesar be stabbed to death in the Senate! Endless knives which the victim could do nothing to stop!  
  
The knives rushed for Jotaro and Star Platinum could only do so much. It let out a cry of "Oraoraoraoraora" and its fists flew like bullets from a machine-gun. JUDE watched as it went through the stream of blades as best it could. It was a sign of how much power Jotaro's Stand had that it lasted this long.  
  
 _It's just too bad he's just a cardboard cut-out. I guess he was more your son than your grandson, JoJo._ JUDE merely sat back and enjoyed the show. It was inevitable that Star Platinum would miss eventually. Five knives flew by its arms and hit their targets.  
  
Three struck his sternum in a horizontal line and another two hit his left and right shoulder respectively. Jotaro spat out blood and that was it. No scream, no wails, and certainly no despair.  
  
"To the very end, you couldn't even show the slightest bit of despair?" JUDE said, rolling her eyes. "I hoped for something bigger, but I guess I should cut my losses with the magnet trick. With this last knife, I'll put an end to the boring sequel and move on with my life."  
  
JUDE threw the last knife without much of a care. It was straight for the throat and went by as fast as the others. JUDE would kill him the same way she had killed JoJo and Joseph. By piercing through their necks!  
  
Star Platinum punched at the knife to deflect it away and deflected it was. It was truly an amazing act of speed that the Stand even made it in time. Surely this was where it'd all turn around!  
  
But then the knife pierced Jotaro's forehead.  
  
 _Holy shit,_ JUDE said nothing. She couldn't. There was no way she'd be able to control herself with how her lips were wobbling.  _Did that actually happen? Did Jotaro literally just fucking kill himself?!_  
  
She couldn't stop it. She didn't want to stop it. It was uncontrollable and fierce and it was the laughter bursting out from her mouth. She cackled and guffawed and almost fell off the chimney itself! All the while, Jotaro's body was falling to the ground with that same knife sticking out of his head.  
  
"I knew that Stands reflected our desires, but goddamn, Jotaro! I guess you were an edgy teenager to the end!" JUDE cackled and wrapped her arms around her gut. "Such a fuck-up is unthinkable! Your Stand killed you!" JUDE threw up an arm to slap the star on her shoulder. "JoJo's last descendant! Died like a punk! It's so pitiful! It's so despairing!"  
  
JUDE stopped laughing. Like flicking a switch, her face shut off all emotion.  
  
"I don't buy it."  
  
Jotaro landed on the sidewalk with a cloud of dust hiding his body after landing. The people around him at the time panicked and fled upon seeing a knife-riddled body. If he wanted to run, it'd be a good time.  
  
As the dust cleared, however, he remained still as ever.  
  
He'd have to get close to hit her, but simply laying there was a risk. He was giving her permission to test out whether he was truly dead or not and he had no guarantee she'd be close enough to reach.  
  
"Even if he's dead, a bit of desecration never hurt anyone." JUDE said to herself. Being honest, the battle itself had been a squib.  
  
So she might as well have some fun with him.  
  


\---

Polnareff saw JUDE with the stop sign standing over Jotaro's body and knew he had no need to think.  
  
He jumped up and felt nothing but a passionate hatred for the monster who had caused all this. He hated her for her evil. He hated her for feeding evil. He hated her for enabling evil.  
  
Worst of all, he hated her for everyone that she had murdered. The innocent and the just that were made into her victims. Avdol, Iggy, and now he was having to pray that she hadn't killed Jotaro as well.  
  
 _He can't be. He can't be! Those magazines...they must have protected him._ Polnareff couldn't accept anything else. That denial was what was saving his soul from despair.  
  
Silver Chariot readied its blade and made a quick thrust straight for the back of JUDE's skull. Polnareff wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was certainly one of the fastest! His Silver Chariot could keep up with Star Platinum and he was sure it could do the same with JUDE's The World.  
  
The monster's eyes widened as she barely managed to turn her eyes towards him. But no time! The tip of Silver Chariot's sword pierced into her skull and was making its way through her brain! There wasn't a creature alive that'd survive what Silver Chariot was about to do to JUDE's skull!  
  
"Go back to the pits of hell where you were born from!" He screamed. Silver Chariot drove the blade further into the-  
  
Polnareff felt a hard force slam against his side and he flew through the air. He had no time to even realise what had happened, let alone right himself, as he crashed straight against a nearby building without any warning. It was insane! It was as if someone had cut out the reels of a film and left a sudden change in scene!  
  
But more than that, Polnareff was concerned with the agonising pain on his left side when he tried to move and the fact that his arm couldn't move an inch without crying out from pain. His vision blurred from the impact and his body had all the energy knocked out of it.  
  
 _And my foot is bleeding again._ Polnareff mused to himself. It seemed that he was more wounded from the fight with Vanilla Ice than he thought.  
  
JUDE meanwhile was having the time of her life.  
  
"Just a bit more force and time and you'd have done it! The despair that has lingered for decades would have ended at the hands of Jean-Pierre Polnareff." She said, looking at him with those hungry eyes. She moved a finger towards her puncture wound. "Then again, if Speedwagon's gun had a bit more fire-power, I'd be dead!"  
  
JUDE's tongue was out as the impossibly long appendage coiled up the hole in her head and wiggled into it. She was drinking out from the very wound he had struck! What better way could she have chosen to mock his efforts! She wasn't even fazed one bit.  
  
"D-Damn you. I-Is this impossible?" Polnareff asked. He barely had the energy to speak as his vision began to slowly fade. JUDE just laughed at him and stalked over with the stop sign in hand.  
  
"Assassination is impossible with The World serving me. Your little tour group's been whittled down to nothing! I tore through Kakyoin's chest and Joseph is drowning on a knife. It's just you left! So, just for me," JUDE had closed her eyes and joined her hands like a prayer, the stop sign held between them. It barely lasted until devolving into the face of the devil again. "Give me a nice and loud scream of despair as the last hope for humanity dies with you!"  
  
Polnareff should have died then. It was a one in a million chance that he'd survive.  
  
Yet, he had been lucky. JUDE's head shot around and looked back at Jotaro. Without even a second thought, she jumped for the stone in the middle of the street and looked at Jotaro the way a cat would a laser pointer.  
  
"Jotaro, you're still alive?" She asked quick as a bullet. "Did you just make a move to save your friend? Are you trying to buy him a few more seconds of life? Could you actually be fighting even now?"  
  
The sound of cocked guns echoed behind her. "D-Don't move! We're the police!" One of the two officers said. "We're placing you under arrest for suspicion of multiple counts of murder. We have guns so just put your hands behind your back."  
  
"Yeah," JUDE vanished before appearing between the two. She smacked the back of her closed fist against the nose of the policeman behind her, knocking him out. "No. I'm not doing that. But you can do something for me."  
  
She shoved her fingers inside the side of his neck and moved behind him. Polnareff tried to move. He tried to will his broken body into action and all he got was blinding pain and a body that couldn't move even if it wanted to follow the mind.  
  
 _Am I just a spectator to this carnival of horrors? Can't I do anything?_ Polnareff looked at Jotaro's still body. Had he moved? Was there still a chance?  _I believe in you. You're still alive. You're alive and waiting for the right moment!_  
  
"See the corpse? Yeah, his face looked that dead when he was alive. Real bummer. Still, let's make sure he's dead." JUDE told the officer. He was doing his best to comply whilst knowing she had already killed him, making his aim shaky at best. "Come on, steady your aim. Martha could do it and the bitch was dumb as bricks."  
  
Star Platinum could have easily caught the bullet as it pierced his side. It didn't mean anything. He could still be alive. More alive than the cop himself, who fell the ground after JUDE tore her fingers out of his neck.  
  
"Huh, guess I just imagined it. Jotaro, you are just lame. Like L-A-M-E O-M-G laaame!" JUDE drew out that last word before pouting. Without warning, her eyes narrowed and her voice dropped. "Still, better to be sure. Not like I got anything better to do."  
  
JUDE muttered to herself as she stood and focused, Polnareff could tell she was straining her ears, and even kneeling onto the ground. She must have been listening to his heartbeat, listening for an agonisingly long while, before standing up. She looked completely sure that she had actually killed Jotaro.  
  
 _Jotaro, you must have Star Platinum holding your heart or something that crazy. That has to be it._ Polnareff thought to himself. But for so long? How could anyone last that long without the heart pumping blood?  _His heart couldn't take being still for that long. Which means...damnit, it means he's-_  
  
"If he wasn't dead then, he's dead now." JUDE sighed as she stood up and began to walk away. "Guess I'll just walk away and get started on the next step of my plan. So disappointing." She said aloud, looking back at his body. She vanished again and now had the stop-sign in hand again, just over Jotaro's body. "I'll just take his head as a prize and play with it! That'll keep me from being bored!"  
  
She swung the stop-sign down and Polnareff didn't know how he managed to scream out his name, let alone have Silver Chariot raise its blade towards her.  
  
"JOTA-" Polnareff's scream died down when he saw that the sign was stopped. Before it touched his neck. "-ro?"  
  
He saw it! The knives that had jutted out from Jotaro's body was out! Those magazines did work! Not only that, but Star Platinum was there in all its shining glory and JUDE could only stand there flabbergasted. Her analysis had failed her! She had been tricked!  
  
"What the fuck?!" JUDE screamed. She was face to face with Star Platinum's look of pure fury. "The World!" She screamed as her Stand appeared and-  
  
"-even if you stop time," Jotaro said. Polnareff must have blacked out at some point, but heard Jotaro's next words loud and clear. "I'll still knock your head off!"  
  
Star Platinum's fist crashed against JUDE's head and dug in deep. Polnareff couldn't see all of it, but he did see the blood pouring out from JUDE's head along with bone-fragments. Jotaro must have caved in a third to half of her skull at least!  
  
"Oh fuck, it hurts! It hurts and it feels so-" JUDE's howls of agony ended as she looked at Jotaro's face. It contorted into confusion. "What?"  
  
JUDE's mystified tone was the last thing out of her mouth before she was sent flying back. Her body crashed against nearby steps and left a cloud of dust and a crater where she laid. Jotaro struggled to his feet, but seemed stable and more than ready to finish the fight.  
  
"Finally, I was able to bash her head in." Jotaro muttered. He turned to look at Polnareff, who might have said something if he had the energy, but remained still. He turned back to JUDE. "But if she survived a century under water, I can't think she's dead. Probably fucked up, but still alive."  
  
"Seriously?" JUDE spat as blood streamed from the left side of her head. "You speak in th-that tone, like some how-ho-housewife going over her shopping list, when I'm like this?!" She slipped on her own legs and collapsed to the floor. Jotaro must have hit harder than Polnareff thought. "My brain is fpucked! My legsh c-ca-can't mo-oove. You cripp-ed me. I wanna vomit ma goots out! You d-did this! Show some emo-shon!"  
  
Jotaro ignored her words and placed a petrol can down on the ground. Star Platinum smacked the side of a nearby car and the fuel poured down and filled up the can. As JUDE continued to rant, Jotaro walked towards her and poured it all over her. JUDE was reduced to spitting the petrol out and coughing from the overwhelming scent.  
  
She glared up at him as if she was a wounded predator spitefully gazing upon the prey that outsmarted it.  
  
"The gasoline will let me track your smell. Should make the fire nice and hot too. I feel bad for kicking a girl, especially when she's down-" Jotaro paused. "Nah, I don't feel bad at all. I'm equal-opportunity about punching a woman as hard as a man if she's crazy like you. My friends, my family, and a lot of innocent people have died so you can get wet. So call this goodbye."  
  
"That's it?" JUDE spat. Her head seemed to heal enough that she could speak normally. That, or she faked it before. "You just list off some platitudes and light me on fire. All without a goddamn change in inflection?!" JUDE hissed. She glared at Jotaro with a strange venom. "I killed Joseph! Kakyoin! Doesn't that shit bother you enough to chew me out?! Aren't you going to talk about how my despair will never again spread?!"  
  
Polnareff swallowed down the pain of hearing the news about Mister Joestar and Kakyoin. He had wondered why Jotaro had been alone, but hadn't wanted to believe it.  
  
"Good grief," Jotaro held the tip of his hat and probably glared down at her. "I don't care what you call your plan or your little act. I'm not the kind of guy who plays along with your act."  
  
"My...act?" JUDE's face was blank. There was no emotion and that was far more horrifying than the cruel smirk that grew on her face after. "Jotaro! You think this is over! I will break your act and see what's inside! I'll destroy it until there's nothing left but a ruin of a man! The World!"  
  
Polnareff had heard a car coming by just as JUDE said those words and she was then on the car. How had she moved that fast? There had to be a reason. Maybe Jotaro knew and could tell Polnareff. Maybe they could fight her together!  
  
But instead Polnareff's vision became darker and darker until it was completely black. It was useless. He'd just slow Jotaro down anyway. He'd played his part as best he could in distracting JUDE from cutting off his head.  
  
He just had to put his faith in Jotaro now.  
  
After all, the worst was finally over.  
  


\---

Star Platinum's punches hurt.  
  
They hurt like hell.  
  
JUDE couldn't think of a time after most of her body had been burnt by Ripple that something hurt as bad as Star Platinum's pummels.  
  
But it was worth it.  
  
The pain, the humiliation of being driven into the sewers- which was actually a nice dose of despair after dealing with Jotaro- and dealing with that same reaction every time from him. It was all just to build-up to the moment when JUDE would show-off the results of her knowledge and talent.  
  
The moment when Jotaro realised he helped her recover with the blood of his grandfather.  
  
 _You didn't kill me, Jotaro. You tore me to shreds, sure, but all that did was help my plan._ JUDE mused to herself. She sucked the blood out from Joseph's neck until she was fully healed. In fact, she came out of it feeling so very much stronger than before.  
  
"That's right!" She said, pointing a finger at her opponent. "I should thank you, Jotaro! Thanks to you, I can have all this Joestar blood for myself! Is there any finer vintage?! It suits me as if it was tailor-made too!"  
  
JoJo's body had grown some more and did a number on her already-wrecked clothes. JUDE's sleeves were torn to shreds, her shirt was in ruins, and the few red-painted nails that hadn't broken off now had a new kind of coating. Joseph's Joestar's blood, to be exact.  
  
And good god did it all feel good.  
  
"I've never felt this powerful in my life! I feel every part of me is bursting at the seams with energy!" She raised her hands to her face. "I can do anything with his blood!"  
  
JUDE put her hands against her face and began to claw down her cheeks heavily. She felt her nails dig through and tear off entire chunks of her face. Her former beauty was being destroyed and the pain was mind-numbing. If JUDE hadn't been laughing, she'd have been screaming.  
  
She didn't even care about Jotaro right now. This was all for herself.  
  
 _These looks...the only part of me that has survived this long. The only thing unmarred._ Now they were being torn to shreds. JUDE could feel muscle as well as flesh be torn apart by her nails. Her body was healing as quickly as she hurt herself, but the skin was now truly a vampire's, targeting the bits that even survived the Joestar mansion fire.  
  
Every part of her had now been wounded.  
  
"And it's all thanks to you!" JUDE stopped scratching herself to stare intensely at Jotaro. Her eyes were focused intently on his face, spying for any reaction. "JoJo's body allowed me to survive this long, Joseph prepared a body rich in Hope and Ripple and Joestar-blood for me to eat, and you, Jotaro, were the one who brought me here!"  
  
JUDE kept laughing and Jotaro began growling. The rage building up inside him was like watching a volcano beginning to erupt. Any moment, she'd get that glorious eruption and then she could start chopping him down. Reducing this mountain to pebbles and then stomping on the pebbles.  
  
"The Joestar family has only ever existed to sate my thirst for Despair! Erina escaped me because she didn't have the blood, so JoJo took her place! Pops, Jonathan, George, and now Joseph! Four generations of Joestars have fed me!" JUDE's face fell and she decided to start lecturing. "If only your mother wasn't such a soft-hearted, weak, dumb cunt. She'd be here now as the next part of my meal! Oh well, I guess I'll move onto her, if she hasn't croaked by tomorrow! Jotaro, be a good son and show me your neck! You can take her place and make me even stronger!" She finished off with a nice, long fit of laughter.  
  
"G-Gramps..." Jotaro spat out. He looked at JUDE with a hatred strong enough to be a good start. "I'll make you pay."  
  
He stalked forward with the rage blinding his vision. This was it! This was the moment she'd been waiting for! He was the pig fattened-up for the slaughter and JUDE would gladly wield the butcher's knife herself!  
  
 _All I have to do is overpower him. I'll make him watch as I crush him down and show him that his life now belongs to JUDE! I will make him Despair!_ JUDE's wild laughter had apparently distracted her from the fact that Jotaro had stopped moving. He was looking up and whispering himself to himself before his whole body relaxed.  
  
Was he gathering Hope? Was this when he'd finally ditch the moody act and start letting it all out?!  
  
"Hey, Jotaro, are you ignoring me?!" JUDE shouted, using an angrier tone than she meant to. She crouched down and pierced her hand into Joseph's chest fingers first and really started sucking Joseph dry.  
  
Jotaro's eyes constricted as he watched the grandfather he loved turn into a bag of bones. He looked nothing like the man he'd been alive. He was just a corpse.  
  
JUDE winked at Jotaro.  
  
"B-Bitch..." Jotaro's volume didn't change, but there was a powerful anger in him. It might have been the most angry she'd ever seen him.  
  
JUDE let her heart take flight again. Finally! Things were back on track. "That's it...your anger will drive make you stronger. And that'll be the last Hope that this world has. Let it roar out so I can snuff it out. Let me taste your despair when I smash it with my new, Joseph-Joestar's-blood-fuelled body! Destroying this last beacon of hope will be a Despair like none-"  
  
"Shut the fuck up!" Jotaro roared. There was no hope or despair in his voice but just anger. JUDE was beginning to realise it. "I don't know how many times I gotta drill this into your brain, but I don't care."  
  
JUDE stopped. Everything stopped. It was like the script had come to an end as the typewriter had broken mid-way.  
  
"Maybe Jonathan Joestar was this big shining hope or went along with it, but I'm not. I ain't 'hoping' for shit and I ain't making anyone else 'hope' either. This is just me and you fighting it out and me killing you. Hope, Despair, that's just words to me. Words that've lost all meaning and just sound annoying coming from your mouth after hearing it so many times. You want to pretend your some villain from an kid's action show, fine. But it's not going to change anything. All that's gonna happen is you're learning one thing," Jotaro readjusted his hat and stared daggers into her. "Don't piss me off."  
  
She didn't say anything. She was silent because she had reached an understanding. A truth she'd tried to look away from.  
  
Whatever had happened before, that was it. She'd probably never get it again tonight. Jotaro now was barely any different from the start in how he spoke and fought and acted. This anger was the best she was going to get.  
  
It finally sunk in. Jotaro wasn't going to go along with the script. He was determined to ignore the dynamic that ruled this world, and that JUDE was bound to, and just remain in his box. JUDE could never get what she had with JoJo, or even Joseph, again. That was it. Jotaro wasn't going to give her a drop of despair from himself or her, so long as he could help it.  
  
This night, what was meant to be the best night of her life, was ruined.  
  
"You little  _shit_." Judith Eydris growled. Her voice carried the weight of a woman who had lived since the 19th century and finally got tired of hiding it. "Do you think you sound tough? You think that sounds cool? Did you just watch Clint Eastwood shoot a few people and think acting like him'll help you? No wonder this world's so fucking boring. An emotionally-retarded punk like you has all the girls and boys wanting to suck your dick. All of them look at you and think there's something inside you. Fuck! I thought there was something inside you. That there was a core of Hope just like JoJo's! Even a pitiful Despair from a child whose father doesn't even spend time with!  
  
"But no. All I get is a stone wall. Some robot born without emotions or heart!" Judith jabbed a finger right towards Jotaro's heart. "Where the fuck is it?! Why the hell don't you react to anything?! You just get mad or blank-faced! Everything I do, you just act like it's nothing! I murdered your grandfather! Stop acting like I just cut you off in traffic and get mad! Say that you'll fight me until the very end! Say that humanity isn't giving up that easy! I don't need much, but just act like you care! Like there's an actual goddamn reason this is happening instead of 'you pissed me off!'"  
  
"How does anyone even like you?! You seemed fun, but it's all just boring! Every time, it's just Star Platinum punching people! Why don't you emote?! Why don't you react?! JoJo was just a glass of goddamn milk, but he could be inspiring! He could do stuff! He was Hope incarnate! And you're who I've got left?! You?! I was never this boring, even before I learnt how to make despair my own instead of just languishing in boredom and suffering and-" She stopped herself. JUDE took control of her emotions and she looked at Jotaro with hateful and demanding eyes. "No. We're re-doing this. You're going to stop being a disappointment right goddamn now and you are going to fight against my Despair! Do it, you fucking turd!  
  
"JUDE," Jotaro said, before crushing her hope- expectations to the dirt. "Call it what you want, but all I see is some brat who likes picking on people because she's too dumb to find better things to do. I don't give a damn about what hope or despair is meant to be and do. You screwed with my family, my friends, and a lot of others. So that's why I'm going to kill you."  
  
Nothing had changed. She tore her heart out and threw the remains in his face and nothing changed. No interest. No emotion. No anything. Just the same old crap.  
  
JUDE wanted to hit something. JUDE wanted to hurt someone. JUDE wanted to get rid of this disappointment that was stuffing her throat and choking her alive. JUDE felt her whole insides turn to poisonous acid that was rotting her from the inside. JUDE felt her brain slow down and every second become painful to go through.  
  
Her eyes narrowed and she began to breathe in and out. Each breathe was deeper than the last and came out as more of a growl. Her body lurched back and forth as if she was considering and then stopping herself from acting like an animal and just pouncing on him.  
  
JUDE never hated anyone as much as she hated Jotaro Kujo right now.  
  
 _He ruined it! He ruined the despair of taking Joseph's body! He's ruining everything!!!_ JUDE hated Jotaro! She hated him so much that it was beyond Despair itself! She wanted to kill him right now! But what would be the point?! It wouldn't change anything! He had already ruined the night that JUDE would discard her ties to humanity!  
  
Her vision went red.  
  


\---

_I fucked up._ Jotaro cursed to himself as he flew over the blood-soaked streets.  _I fucked up bad. I should have just gone along with the crap and she'd keep it between us. Even if Gramps said not to lose my cool, this isn't exactly better._  
  
He saw bodies and torn-apart vehicles litter the streets and knew he was going the right way. He saw rivers of blood flow down with torn limbs serving as rafts for any survivors. JUDE must have killed dozens already. It was a small relief that she was still along the river.  
  
Polnareff being safe was another relief. He was worried JUDE would go straight for him to get at him. Instead, she was sating her bloodlust on everyone else.  
  
It was pathetic what she was doing, even compared to her usual crap.  
  
All this because she didn't get what she wanted.  
  
 _"No." JUDE said. She had been about to have some kind of tantrum like a toddler before she just stopped. "No. I'm done." She turned her back and began to walk away.  
  
Like hell she was.  
  
"Don't think you can walk away from everything no-"  
  
"I'm not walking away from everything. I'm walking away from you." JUDE said. She had none of her annoying glee but a cold, detached, scornful tone when she turned her head to him. "Congratulations, Jotaro, you win. I give up. Nothing I do this night will make you despair. So why bother?"  
  
Jotaro hid his confusion. Okay, so he ruined whatever joke she was pulling. Her whole thing was 'despair' and all that and now she was quitting? That meant she was done right? If she wasn't trying to do her little act anymore, then what?  
  
And why was he so uneasy?_  
  
 _"You don't feel Hope or Despair, you just get angrier or keep up the poker-face. Nothing I do will change that tonight." JUDE shrugged her shoulders. "So I'll just celebrate with everyone else."  
  
Jotaro's blood ran cold as he realised what that meant.  
  
"I'll start with the people of Cairo. It's been a while since I've had fun with a large group. Who knows? Maybe I'll even make a zombie or two. Maybe that'll keep you busy. Then I'll go after Polnareff. He's unconscious, so if I can't wake him up, I'll make him a zombie too. You and he can fight while I escape."  
  
"Escape?!" Jotaro couldn't allow that. Not when she was describing all the insane crap she was planning.  
  
"I'll show up again in a few days. Right after I'm sure Holly will die. Your journey will have been for nothing. I'll be there to remind you of that, before vanishing from your fingertips," JUDE turned her head away from him and looked up to the stars. "Maybe I'll visit Japan and meet Joseph's wife. She'll make a good kill. Lisa Lisa too. She may be a bag of bones, but I have a score to settle with her. JoJo and Erina's last act as a couple will turn to nothing when I make her a zombie. Or torture her to death. Who knows?"  
  
He saw visions of hills made from corpses. He saw JUDE carving through innocents and creating monsters like those zombies of Enya's. He saw everything burning and dying._  
  
 _"You're saying you're done with me, but it sounds like you're just gonna be a stalker." Jotaro tried to keep it cool. He had to bait her into attacking or just forget this mad plan.  
  
"Your father will be next." JUDE's words once again made Jotaro's blood turn cold. "I know where he's playing. A little jazz club in London will be getting a very different kind of performer. Maybe I'll bring him back. Maybe I'll make the whole family zombies...nah, you're not worth it."   
  
JUDE was nothing like she was before. Her eyes used to have that madness in them that was replaced with nothing. Her voice would dance and sing but now was a corpse.  
  
She was a vampire but this was the first time she acted like something undead rather than alive.  
  
"I'll make you chase me, Jotaro. You'll fail to keep your loved ones safe. You'll be all alone in this world without anyone to understand you. I will slowly become your obsession as the rage and hurt builds. I'll always slip from your grasp and build up a new army. A new set of sacrifices for my plan." She tilted her head. "I wonder how much of my time-stop you can copy in time to match me? I'm at nine seconds, and that's a guess for right now, and you're at a measly two."  
  
Jotaro knew what she was trying to pull. She could say she was done with him all she liked and even believe it. But this was just a long-term game. She wasn't going to stop with him. She was just going to torment him in a whole other way._  
  
 _"So this is to make me despair." He said, trying to keep cool.  
  
JUDE scoffed at the very idea. "No. You've actually become so much of a disappointment that your despair would be like drinking cold diarrhoea." JUDE twisted her head to look to him again "When you meet the man as broken and pathetic as you and you two become a team, then maybe you'll catch me. Maybe you'll get your battle. Then I'll accept that last bout, but only for its own sake. Whether you win or lose, it won't matter for you. You'd probably just kill yourself if you won by then.  
  
"The reason I'm doing this is not to make you despair. It's not because I've given up on exterminating the Joestar bloodline. Do you want to know why?" JUDE asked. He had no time to answer before she did it for him. Spit flew from clenched teeth as she hissed, "Go fuck yourself. That's why. The World."  
  
"Stop!" Jotaro screamed. Star Platinum moved forward as fast as it could, even with the short time it had in stopped-time, but its attempt at punching failed as JUDE was too far. She had disappeared.  
  
Before, her enemy had been Jotaro and his friends. Now it was all of Cairo._  
  
"Now I gotta try and find her. Stop her before she kills more people." Jotaro said to himself as he searched the streets.  
  
He had to stop JUDE. He needed to stop JUDE. She couldn't have gone far and, knowing her, she wouldn't stop time that much. She wouldn't be able to see the faces of her victims change otherwise.  
  
Jotaro found her by an intersection. She was in front of a tram of some kind and was about to tear through it with her bare hands  
  
Not on his goddamn watch.  
  


\---

Girls got the raw end of the deal in most relationships.  
  
They'd work so hard and put everything into the relationship. They would bare their heart and soul to a boy and want only their loyalty and commitment in turn. They'd do their best to plan some fun stuff and to show appreciation when they got gifts. They'd put so much of their emotions into that relationship.  
  
Boys? Nah, screw that. They'd break up a good thing and then whine when it was gone. They'd see someone work so hard and need something so bad and just call it an act. They'd just act like they were the only people in the world. Their issues were the only thing that mattered.  
  
In the end, the girl had a broken dream and had to heal herself.  
  
Some ate their problems away, some people drank, some got together with friends and celebrated, and others just indulged in bitching. For some, they'd even hurt themselves, but most soothed their pain with pleasure.  
  
For JUDE, who had her wishes and dreams crushed by Jotaro, she decided to indulge in some good old-fashioned mass murder to feel the Despair she craved and needed.  
  
 _Like a hot shower after being run through the mud and crap. This is just what I needed._ JUDE looked upon the terrified faces of women hiding their children and men torn between bravery, fear, and their senses. All of them were hoping from the bottom of their hearts to live, but slowly came to despair as their lives were doomed.  _I missed this. I missed this kind of despair._  
  
She missed the personal touch. JUDE was beginning to regret ever sending out assassins to deal with the Joestars in the first place. JoJo's resistance be damned, she should have killed them herself! Next time, she wouldn't use minions anymore.  
  
She definitely wouldn't use them for killing Jotaro's family. That was something she would do, document, and send herself. When the time came to fight Pucci and what remained of Jotaro, she would do it herself again. Screw waiting for whatever brat the likes of Shiobana shoved out, JUDE was doing this now.  
  
JUDE shook her head. No. She was going to ignore Jotaro from now on. If she saw him alone, she'd go the other way. Unless it was a target, then she'd make him watch.  
  
Right now, all she wanted to do was handle these people. She raised an arm and closed her eyes to really bathe in the sounds of their screams, the scent of their terror, and hear their cries for mercy when she swung down her arm. Flesh and bone caved in when against her strength.  
  
It must have been at least ten people she killed at that moment. A dead silence filled the remaining survivors and JUDE shivered in delight when feeling the blood run down her arm. She opened her eyes and found expressions of horror on half and fully decapitated heads. Entire chunks were missing from their bodies.  
  
Jotaro had tried to follow her when she did this last time. This was the second attempt at hitting the tram when it was a bit more in-land. Jotaro himself was easily swatted away with her new power and Kujo was probably sinking into the depths of the river himself after she threw that ship at him.  
  
The last Joestar she truly fought against had drowned her and now she drowned his descendant. If he wasn't dead already.  
  
 _That boat will either kill him or he'll Star Bullshit Platinum his way out. Who cares?_ JUDE said to herself as she sucked the blood from her fingers.  
  
After finishing off the others, she stepped out and leapt into the sky. That had been fun, but now it was time to get to work. She had a lot of hours without sunlight left and she was going to use every second of her new power. She'd use this Joestar blood for all it was worth!  
  
She looked at the many buildings and the continuing rush hour. There must have been hundreds of people down there. If the buildings around them were to fall and collapse, all of them would at least be terrible wounded.  
  
Time for a classic.  
  
Fluid gathered at the centre of her eyes and she aimed right for the tallest building she could see as-  
  
The wind pressure changed. Too quick to be a shift in the direction of the air which meant only one thing.  
  
Something big was coming her way.  
  
JUDE turned to find a massive structure, the top half of some stone tower of some kind, flying straight towards her. It was like it had been ripped from the building itself and thrown like a javelin! A javelin heading straight for her!  
  
"The fuck?!" JUDE screamed. She was almost excited before remembering the only person to pull this off. The man who couldn't take a hint.  
  
JUDE raised her fists and began smashing through the stone tower as if it was nothing. She didn't even need The World for this. She could just use her own vampiric power. She knew what this distraction was meant to be, but if Jotaro thought he could trick her then-  
  
Halfway through destroying the tower, the top side burst open and revealed Jotaro! Okay, she didn't see that coming!  
  
"JUDE! Like hell I'm letting you get away after the shit you've pulled!" Jotaro roared as he moved out from the tower and towards JUDE herself.  
  
Star Platinum appeared from Jotaro and began its usual "Oraoraora" shit. The punches came straight at JUDE, one even smacked her straight in the teeth, before The World could come out and help her deflect them. Each of them was blocked and JUDE had The World slowly shift Star Platinum leftwards and leave an opening.  
  
"Jotaro, take a goddamn hint!" JUDE threw a punch to emphasise the last word. She managed to actually push Star Platinum back with it. "But if you want, I'll put another spin on it."  
  
As Star Platinum was pushed back. The World moved until it was on its side and launched a vertical spin kick straight for Star Platinum's head! Jotaro's Stand raised its arms and they were kicked away with the kick. It left his Stand wide open for JUDE to slither around and strike at Jotaro with a vicious kick to the side.  
  
He flew back until Star Platinum somehow caught him. His Stand rushed forward and The World met it again. Both Stands raised their fists and once again it was a battle of speed and force together. "Oraoraora" and "Upupupupu" filled the air and JUDE wanted the fight to end already!  
  
"The World!" JUDE screamed. As time around her and Jotaro came to a standstill, the stalemate between the Stands continued for the next two seconds.  
  
And then Star Platinum came to a stop.  
  
"If it were anyone but you, Jotaro, this would be the greatest high!" JUDE felt a special loathing for that. He had somehow ruining wiping out the Joestars for her. JUDE hovered around him, looking him over unimpressed. "Instead, this is like dealing a fly that won't go out the window despite everything you do, so you just kill it! You, who ruined this night for me, just won't quit."  
  
When JUDE fully-circled around Jotaro, she made sure he could see her eyes. He couldn't miss the raw hatred and anger in them.  
  
"You talk about being pissed off and that probably drives your power, right? You don't want me to talk about hope and despair?" JUDE asked the dead man. "Fine! You broke my hand and that pissed me off. The icing on the cake of my rage! Here at the ninth and final second! WWWRRRRYYYYY!!!"  
  
The World began its attack. Unlike before, where it would swing wildly and enjoy every blow, it now matched its user need for Jotaro to just hurt. All over Jotaro's body there were impact-blasts all over. JUDE felt his left clavicle, right upper-arm and his ribs on that side break under the force of The World.  
  
When time resumed, Jotaro shot back and crashed through a nearby sign. He'd survive it. If he only inherited one thing from JoJo, even if he didn't deserve it, it was the Joestar tenacity and refusal to just die. JUDE knew she'd have to kill him if she wanted to get anywhere.  
  
She wanted him to live so she could spite him, however. Luckily, with JoJo's spirit tamed, she could now use her vampire powers to a greater extent.  
  
She could be a monster from nightmares again.  
  
"When I kill you, Jotaro, I'll make you a zombie with free-will, just like my old pets!" JUDE screamed. She flew towards Jotaro and prepared The World again. "That'll have to be enough! See?! You keep pissing me off even more!!!"  
  
The World caught up with Jotaro and added an extra-beating just for him. With an array of kicks, Jotaro's sternum was turning into a stress-toy. The black and white pharaoh howled out its "Upupupupu"s before a final kick just under the throat and towards the bridge.  
  
Jotaro fell back and collapsed onto the bridge on his ass. JUDE, meanwhile, landed on her feet and looked at Jotaro with contempt. She had to find the right way to kill him! One that would rob him of any honour or dignity in death! She had to treat this like flushing away a painful dump!  
  
"I know just the perfect thing to do it too. The perfect note to end the life of Jotaro Kujo." JUDE shivered in delight at the idea. It was perfect! The best way to turn disappointment into despair!  
  
JUDE leapt into the sky and vanished from Jotaro's sight. It didn't take nine seconds for her to find it, but it took a few seconds to pick it up and carry it back to the bridge. The most important thing was to ensure that Jotaro didn't see it until the right moment. The moment she'd finally end his life!  
  
Jotaro probably thought she was lurking in the shadows. Maybe he was wondering if she was going to ambush him with the knives again. All he could do was trust in his mere two seconds of movement.  
  
Once, JUDE might have cared what his face would look like in despair. She may have considered it her triumph to kill him.  
  
Now she didn't give a shit. Now she only cared about pushing down the instrument of her fucking revenge.  
  
A garbage truck came into Jotaro's line of sight as JUDE held it by the top of the roof. She glared down at Jotaro and pushed her feet off the air and shot straight down.  
  
"Trash belongs with trash, isn't that right, Jotaro?!" JUDE screamed those final words as she pushed the garbage-truck towards Jotaro's body.  
  
Star Platinum began to move in stopped-time and began hitting at the bottom of the truck. It was doing everything it could to save Jotaro. All of his Hope laid in this final battle and JUDE spat on him for it. It was too late to get it now.  
  
"It's too late, Jotaro! There's no hope for you, there's no despair for me, just the disappointment that defines your existence ending!" She shout as she began to strike down at the truck with both her and The World's fists.  
  
The World and Star Platinum both used every last bit of their power on this truck; one Stand trying to kill and the other to protect. It was a battle of "Ora"s and "Upupu"s against one another. Soon enough, one of them would make the final blow and it would be her.  
  
"DIE!!!!" JUDE screeched like a harpy with that final word. She slammed her fist against the roof of the truck and knew she had won.  
  
She could feel the metal smash against the concrete road and knew it was over. Jotaro must have been fully crushed by the truck and buried under tonnes of metal. No human could survive that weight. No human could survive JUDE.  
  
Jotaro Kujo was dead.  
  


\---

Jotaro Kujo was alive.  
  
He didn't know how. It should have been impossible. But hadn't he and Gramps and their friends done the impossible so many times before? Stands and vampires and everything else made words like useless and impossible empty.  
  
That was what he'd been thinking when he went deep inside himself and told himself that he'd live. He told himself that he wasn't dying or he'd kick his own ass. He told himself he was going to escape this and kick JUDE's ass.  
  
It took everything he had to keep fighting until he won.  
  
 _And now I'm the one moving through time._ Jotaro hadn't the time to question it. He just used that good fortune as a chance to slip between the gap from the truck to the bridge, if it meant he had to breathe in.  _My jacket's probably all messed up now. Another list of reasons why she's pissed me off._  
  
"Nine seconds have passed." JUDE's joyous laughter as she said those words moved through the air of stopped-time.  
  
Jotaro had to bide his time. It wouldn't be long until it hit her. He wanted to wait for the exact moment when he'd pull the same trick on her.  
  
"The Joestars are dead! I killed them all and have fully discarded my past!" JUDE's tone grew less controlled and more fevered. What little restraint she had was gone. "I am the winner. I am JUDE. I. Am. DESPAIR!"  
  
The aura around her grew and strengthened. It was like the universe couldn't find him and so submitted to JUDE. It distorted around her in fear and awe. She was the master of the universe right now.  
  
"Humanity! All of you who have lived a hope-filled life. All of you who have lived a despair-filled life. Good, evil, and all between. None of it matters now!" JUDE flexed the body that didn't belong her. "The World! Immortality! Despair! These three have made me the victor!" Her hands flew towards her eyes and she stretched out her fingers. "Ten seconds!"  
  
Jotaro could move fine. In fact, he started making his move while JUDE was distracted by her own insanity.  
  
"Everyone, prepare yourselves, because I will now begin my climb to Heaven! The Joestars have served as my stepping-stones! Now I am ready to begin the true journey." A line of spit dripped from JUDE's chin to the garbage truck roof. "I'll create it. I will create the Biggest, Most Terrible, Most Awful Tragedies you have ever known! I'll make you all repeat it endless times and turn this world into an imitation of my own Despair!  
  
"But first, I'm drinking every last drop of Jotaro's blood. He should be grateful he gets to join JoJo and the old fart! Most girls would have made fun of his shitty act by now. After that, I'll keep his body and raise him as a zombie with free-will, and then exterminate his family and friends!" JUDE screamed to the heavens. "Jotaro! Humanity! You will all suffer at my hands!"  
  
Jotaro knew by instinct what she looked like. Her eyes were almost coming out of her skull and her body was shaking like she was a drug addict needing the latest fix. This wasn't enough for her. Not even destroying the world would be enough.  
  
It would never be enough for her.  
  
Jotaro stopped time.  
  
"Despair!" JUDE took a step with every proclamation made at the loudest volume she could reach. "Despair into tomorrow! Despair into your memories! Despair into nothingness!"  
  
With each sentence, her body started slowing down. It wasn't used to moving in someone else's stopped-time. It was only built for stopping it. Just like how JUDE could never function in anyone's world but her own. She didn't even notice it until right this very moment.  
  
 _Alright, JUDE. Now I'm the one who's going to end this._ Jotaro began moving forward until he was arm's length from her back. She finally realised she stopped moving.  
  
"Huh? Why am... I...slow...ing..do...w...n...?" JUDE's voice trailed and grew quieter until it came to a complete stop. She could no longer speak while trapped with the rest of time. She was probably stuck asking the same question in her head.  
  
"JUDE," Jotaro said. JUDE couldn't move, but he could tell she practically shit herself to the sound of his voice. "I guess eleven seconds is your limit."  
  
She couldn't move or speak right now and yet Jotaro heard everything. He could hear her soul gasping in shock.  
  
"I stopped time at the nine second mark. That's when I escaped. Good grief, it was hard," He confessed. But it was all worth it to be able to say the next words to come out of his mouth. "But now I don't even need a second to finish you off!"  
  
"J-Jo-Jotaro!" JUDE said. The words that once came so easily were now a battle to speak even once. He could see the edge of her eyes, filled with panic and fear so unlike her. "The same type....same type of Stand...but no...I was wrong...time-stop wasn't JoJo's...it was-"  
  
"How's it feel? If I had to guess, it's like a swimmer rising up to the surface before they suffocate, only to be dragged down again." Jotaro slammed his hand down on JUDE's shoulder and glared. It was a face he'd gotten using to making when looking at her. "What's the matter? I thought you loved despair? Even your own. So what's with the face? It's not like anyone would ever feel pity for you."  
  
Star Platinum landed a powerful kick right against the back of JUDE's legs. A crack echoed throughout the world of stopped time and Jotaro knew, even if JUDE didn't feel the pain right now, she would. Just as she'd be flying ass-first towards the pavement.  
  
Jotaro didn't want her dead just yet. He wasn't going to kill her like this.  
  
 _I'm not like you. I don't get kicks off torment and pain._ Jotaro thought to himself. He felt the time-limit be reached and was partly thankful as his body was hurting like hell in a way he never thought possible. "Time moves again."  
  
And so it did.  
  
JUDE was like a shot-putt. She was a mess of limbs crashing down against the road and sending up on her stomach facing Jotaro. Her legs bled out and weren't healing any time soon. Even with the blood she stole from Gramps, Star Platinum left its mark.  
  
Jotaro jumped off the garbage-truck and walked towards her. JUDE was covered in her own blood as she tried to crawl away and failed. She tried to stand and collapsed. She tried to move her legs and hissed in pain. Then that was it. She stopped trying to move and realise how fucked up her legs were.  
  
He could hear her softly panting and shaking with her face against the floor. Had she reverted to a child weeping over losing a game they rigged to win?  
  
"Get up." He said. "Your tears won't reach me. I don't have an ounce of compassion or pity for you. But beating you to death right now-" He was cut off by JUDE herself.  
  
"You stopped time, your Star Platinum is so strong, you beat me when I was sure you were dead..." JUDE's voice was heavier than steel and her body shook in spasms. After so many years of dishing it, she was revealed to be incapable of taking it. "This is...This is..."  
  
JUDE looked up with eyes misted over and a smile resembling an upward curved moon with her teeth in its place.  
  
"So amazing!" She said, speaking like a woman who was in love for the first time. Her eyes, once bright-blue, were beginning to swirl like a vortex.  
  
Somehow, despite hearing and seeing everything she'd done, Jotaro was amazed by how insane this woman was.  
  
"The plan I worked so hard on! I spent years under the sea having these visions be the candles that guided me. I spent years interpreting it until that Arrow pierced me. And now it's all failed! Just like before! Just like with taking Erina's body, spreading zombies across the world, corrupting JoJo, taking the Joestar fortune, all of them failed! How could I claim to have such a talent in analysis and yet fail constantly?! And now I'm going to die at the hands of the most disappointing Joestar?!  
  
"I'm so despairingly happy." JUDE raised her arms and began stroking her upper arms and chest. It was like she was making out with an invisible lover.  
  
"Hey, who said this is where I kill you?" Jotaro spat. He let her rant for long enough, half-guessing this was just a distraction. "It takes three to four seconds for your legs to heal. After that-"  
  
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" JUDE looked up to him with a familiar hatred. "Don't take this moment. I've got no intention of living now! I lost! You won! I'm not playing along with some Western gunslinger crap because you got a bad taste in your mouth!" JUDE scowled and spat at Jotaro's shoes. As quickly as it came, so too did the soft and pleasured voice. "I no longer have hope in living. In fact, I wonder if I lost that hope during that hell under the sea, and yearned for death. Maybe I should have killed myself after that...or maybe I should have done it on the boat..."  
  
"No. I realise it now. The one-of-a-kind despair of being killed has been wasted so many times. I should have died at the castle! I should have died to that vampire! No! I should have died at the Joestar mansion!" JUDE's eyes were now the swirl pattern. The black line kept turning and turning and there was nothing else. Jotaro didn't even know how she saw when looking up to the sky. "JoJo! I should have listened to you and stayed in hell! A foiled plan, casting aside the role that had choked me forever, and dying by the hand of a beloved older sibling! I shouldn't have waited for Martha when you were there!"  
  
"Two seconds!" Jotaro spat as he readied Star Platinum. It could be a trap. However, JUDE was just looking at him, albeit with demanding eyes.  
  
"Jotaro, you're going to kill me now! That bad taste in your mouth will be one of my many parting gifts. Go to my mansion and be amazed. Be in awe! Your life's going to be completely and utterly consumed by me until there's nothing left once you do! Spend the rest of your days utterly obsessed with me and my legacy! But you better finish here quick!" JUDE teasingly said. Jotaro swore he could see the centre of the swirling pattern begin to shine bright pink. "Because I'm a girl who hates being predictable! Give it to me, Jotaro! Hard and rough! Free me from the gravity that crushes my soul and the strings of fate that dig into my skin like maggots! Which is it? The death I've been waiting for, or your own demise at the hands of my Space Ripper Stingy Eyes, just like how I killed JoJo!!!"  
  
Had she been distracting him all along or had she actually meant it when she said she'd put it to the test?  
  
Jotaro saw the centre of her eyes glow and realised what she was doing. She was concentrating the fluids of her eyes to the centre and then shooting them off like a bullet! At that speed and surface area, she'd cut through him or Star Platinum without any trouble. He didn't even have time to move!  
  
 _Like hell I'm running anyway!_ Jotaro didn't even have time to use Star Platinum's time-stop. He'd have to do it the old-fashioned way!  
  
Star Platinum ran forward and readied its right arm. JUDE's laughter merged with its roar and both reached into the sky as everything slowed to a matter of moments. This was the final blow. Either Jotaro or JUDE would be walking out of this alive.  
  
Only one of them would win.  
  
And one of them did win.  
  
Jotaro watched as two beams of pink light shot through Star Platinum's right arm and he hissed from the pain as two holes appeared on the spaces between his index, middle, and ring fingers and the back of his shoulder. That was gonna sting like a bitch.  
  
But Star Platinum didn't slow down one bit. Instead, it used that pain and added it to its rage. It moved even faster than before and was putting in 110% into this last punch! Moving faster than light, it slammed against its target.  
  
For a moment, and not because of JUDE or Jotaro, time came to a stop.  
  
The last face JUDE ever made was almost serene. Yes, it was manic and despair-filled, but it was hers. Her eyes were alight with despair and delight, her smile showed all her teeth, and her whole body shook with her laughter. She was experiencing the despair of knowing that she was about to die. She had no idea what would come next and loved it.  
  
Judith Eydris was about to die happy because she was about to die. That was the very essence of what it meant to be the woman who wanted to be Despair.  
  
Time resumed.  
  
Star Platinum's fist hit JUDE's face. The impact of the blow rocked across her body and shook it to its core. The left side of her head was the first to burst, although it was only a difference of a few miliseconds, before the right side of her head and the left sternum exploded too. The entirety of JUDE's upper half exploded, although more on the left, into a fountain of blood.  
  
The force of the punch also pushed her corpse backwards and onto her knees. Her body somehow remained upright, but only for the left arm to detach, and rest on her knees. It was like she was about to pray or plead for her life. Not that she'd do either, even if she wasn't dead.  
  
Blue flames ignited along where the body was either destroyed or detached.  
  
Jotaro Kujo stood tall and looked down on his defeated foe. The woman who had haunted his family for a century and brought ruin to countless lives had been put down. She died happy, but she still lost. She  _failed_.  
  
"If I wait until dawn, your whole body will die." Jotaro said. It was more for his benefit than anything. As he stared down at the corpse, he decided to repeat himself. "I said it once, I'll say it again. JUDE, there's only one reason you lost and it definitely ain't 'cause you wanted to die. Just one simple answer."  
  
Jotaro was hurting everywhere. His arm and face and stomach were bleeding, he was pretty sure there was a broken bone in every limb, and he knew that when the adrenaline wore off, he'd feel every last injury.  
  
But he didn't care and for one good reason.  
  
"You really pissed me off." Jotaro said. He held the tip of his hat, stood over the century-long enemy of his family, and waited for back-up.  
  
It was finally over.  
  


\---

And so it was that the despair-filled life of Judith Eydris came to an end.  
  
So many people lent her something, many by force but a select few by choice. It was the same with Dio Brando and Junko Enoshima. Those around them were either collaborators, victims, or enemies, but all of them gave the villain of their world something.  
  
Much of it could never be taken back. They were too numerous and too great.  
  
But sometimes they could take something back. For some, it was their future. For others, it was victory itself. In the case of Jotaro Kujo, it was to take back the life of his grandfather.  
  
The blood of JUDE was given back to Joseph Joestar and he lived again. Admittedly, it almost came to an end shortly after said miracle due to a poor idea of a prank, an excellent impression of a certain laugh, and JUDE's fondness for pop-culture that undermined any test.  
  
Thankfully, Joseph's love of the song 'Get Back' saved him from a pretty anti-climatic death.  
  
Jotaro also took the knowledge of the way to reach Heaven. Such a terrifying and evil power could only be locked away by destroying the only physical source of that knowledge. Jotaro's mind was the new Pandora's Box that kept the world safe from such a power as one who resided in Heaven.  
  
Yet, this also meant that his mind was the key. For Enrico Pucci, driven mad by tragedy and a need to blame fate rather than accept responsibility, he would stop at nothing to reach Heaven and create a world of absolute certainty and fate. He would save mankind from itself and the despair of uncertainty.  
  
That dark Hope for peace of mind would be the source of later tragedies, but that is a later tale.  
  
Jonathan Joestar's skull was discovered and would be buried next to his loving wife, Erina Pendleton, and the son he never met George Joestar. In life, their time together was cut tragically short, but now they would remain together for all time in body. Their spirits, while one a long time ago, rested that much easier.  
  
JUDE's body was burnt in the desert sun and those of the Stardust Crusaders who had fallen, along with every other innocent victim of JUDE's madness, could now rest in peace. Jotaro and Joseph would return to Japan to greet a recovered Holly Kujo while Jean-Pierre Polnareff would return home to France and begin investigating the rise in crime in Europe.  
  
That too is another story concerning a certain heir.  
  
So ended the life of Judith Eydris. She was born cursed with Despair and died having achieved the greatest despair she could imagine possible.  
  
Down in the pits of Hell, where the souls of the damned are punished in unique and terrible ways, there is a place where the souls of the damned are cursed to sit and watch an infinite number of possibilities. A place where they can only watch and can change nothing.  
  
It is a strange torture. It often varied how long it would take for eternal powerlessness to sink in.  
  
In one particular section, designed as a movie-theatre, there were two occupants at the moment. Two fairly similar and yet so very different victims of this torture who were having very different reactions at the moment.  
  
The male was a giant of a man with spiked blonde hair and sharp red eyes, three marks on his left ear, wore a revealing green and yellow set of clothing, and was currently using his lean but muscled build to slam the walls and floor of the cinema. He had tried ripping the chairs out but had failed miserably. All he could do was express his anger through violence as he only knew how to do.  
  
The female was different. She had long strawberry-blonde hair with clear blue eyes that held a sick joy at watching the man's tantrum. It was her only entertainment. She wore a black cardigan over a white shirt, a red mini-skirt, black heeled-boots, and was busying herself with stuffing her hand into a bucket of popcorn. Or rather, an empty bucket of popcorn.  
  
The door to the cinema opened and in walked a strange woman.  
  
She was 195cm tall and yet there was a clear scar by the middle of her neck. What was stranger was that on top of the scar was a head much like the woman's and on the bottom was a body just like the man's. Her clothing was a male version of the woman's, but she was clearly a counterpart to the woman more than the man.  
  
She looked around and saw the two and grinned.  
  
"'Sup? Name's Junko Enoshima. You speak Japanese?" Junko Enoshima asked. She looked at Dio Brando, who either ignored the new arrival or continued his rampage. "Ignore him. He gets like this. Wait until the next Ascended picks him up, he'll forget all about this place. Literally. He keeps forgetting that it keeps happening. It's kind of cute. Not that I can brag; same deal here."  
  
"Judith Eydris, but just call me JUDE. So you're me?" JUDE asked in turn.  
  
"No, I'm you if I weren't a stupid bitch who got distracted by family issues and got on with spreading Despair. In short, I got the job done." Junko replied. She smirked. "Also, you didn't do much that Dio didn't do himself. Add on those man-hands and I gotta give you a negative million points. That's Mukuro-range."  
  
JUDE knew who she meant. "Oh no, are  _they_ here too?"  
  
"You know it."  
  
"It's a good thing I have you here with me then. Although dying at seventeen isn't surprising with that anorexic body of yours."  
  
The two stared at one another and shared a terrible and evil smile that was accompanied by familiar laugh.  
  
Yes, this was going to be a very despairful friendship.


	19. Dangan Crusaders IF

**Special Chapter Three**

**Dangan Crusaders IF**

****\---  


Hope's Peak Academy.  
  
In many IFs, most of which tragically involve Mutual Killing Games, this institution is the foundation of a certain order. This research facility for decades would study the talents of gifted children and teenagers and help them grow said them into Talents that could inspire Hope. In return, those people with Talent gained the title of Ultimate and would go on to do great things.  
  
The academy would become corrupted by this focus on talent that would drive them to commit and enable many sins, in all but a rare few IFs, but that is a different story. It is also often that these actions backfire and end up being the catalyst for not only the destruction of Hope's Peak itself but of that very foundation of Hope.  
  
It is rarely by the hands of a curious teacher exiled to the Reserve Course or by a brave journalist or even a group of concerned students.  
  
No. Hope's Peak is often destroyed by a saviour of evil and despair by the name of Junko Enoshima. But that is another set of IFs.  
  
In this particular IF, there are some similarities to the usual state of Hope's Peak; its founder is Izuru Kamukura, there is a Steering Committee very interested in a project to create a being of pure Talent, there is a disruptive class of Ultimates who just need someone to bring them together, and a trio of friends who deserve a kinder fate than the one given to them.  
  
This class, normally designated 77-B, in this IF came to be born and meet one another much earlier than usual. In the world of the 1980s in fact. Chisa Yukizome is their teacher, Kyosuke Munakata is her boyfriend, Juzo Sakakura is head of security, and all three work together to end the corruption at Hope's Peak and preserve its principles.  
  
There is Hajime Hinata who, through a mixture of indoctrination, self-loathing, and tragedy, makes the mistake of agreeing to the Izuru Kamukura Project and destroys himself in the name of Talent.  
  
Yet there is no Junko Enoshima.  
  
There is, however, JUDE. The vampire who cast aside the name Judith Eydris would normally ignore Hope's Peak in many IFs, for she had already found the beacon of Hope she wished to destroy, and considered the flawed institution a poor substitute for the Joestar family. It takes a certain something to change her mind.  
  
Reports of a certain boy whose Talent consists of all things, for example.  
  
The curtain falls...  
  


\---

  
"I can't believe Yoshihiro's going to be fucking dead. Then again, I mean, if I had a kid like his, I'd probably get cancer and shit." JUDE said to herself.  
  
"Lady JUDE, I could have provided some medicine to strengthen his body. He might have become an asset." Enya offered. The old hag had access to many secret potions and cures that often baffled modern science.  
  
JUDE considered the offer, especially if the medicine tasted like shit, but shook her head. "No. We don't know if his kid had the Arrow used on him and I don't want to find out."  
  
"The risk of him turning against us?"   
  
"The disappointment at how obviously he'll turn out," JUDE said. She didn't want to be proved right. She turned and looked out the black-tinted window. "At least Nijimura came through for us. Dumbass had a use after all."  
  
He'd been a newer affiliate of JUDE's. Using people like Yoshihiro, she had developed connections all over the world to enact her will, keep her informed, and also supply her with the latest movies and TV shows to watch. A girl had to keep up with modern culture, didn't she?  
  
When it came down to it, girls just want to have fun.  
  
Unlike men such as Nijimura whose wife had croaked and his business was flatlining because he was an idiot. In came JUDE with offers of success and fortune to calm his worries and all he had to do was pledge his soul to her entirely. He could be rich and JUDE could have a connection to Japan. She felt something pull her to the town he and Yoshihiro lived in and wanted friends there to check it out.  
  
He'd accepted it without question. A shame since he'd have been different from the rest then. She might have even spared him from the flesh-bud, but his predictability had doomed him. Nijimura was living his life with the sword of Damocles over his head and he never even knew it.  
  
 _Almost makes me want to activate them already. Just as he's at the height of his success, he becomes a freak of nature!_ JUDE liked the idea. She could see the news reports now of these strange green monsters that were incapable of dying. It'd be great to see their teary faces as they'd be locked away forever.  
  
But she preferred waiting for the event that she died. JUDE had come to resent certainty for its predictability, but a part of her liked knowing that, even in death, she would be spreading despair.  
  
"Nijimura was also good to give us the information we needed." Enya cackled to herself in that dry and cruel tone JUDE loved. "These fools try to create the perfect being. They remove all the desires that motivate humans to survive and they think they create strength!"  
  
"It is insanely stupid." JUDE said. She remembered a certain hero from so long ago that deserved the title of 'Ultimate Hope'. "I want to see how this thing stacks up. I want to know if this Izuru Kamukura shares my eyes."  
  
She wanted to see if he too could perceive the pull of gravity and the strings of fate that served as the chains binding them to boredom. An awareness of just how hollow and empty their lives were in a world of Hope. To know how mind-numbing their abilities could be.  
  
 _If he too will yearn for the despair that disrupts the balance of this world._ JUDE grinned at the thought under all her layers.   
  
When they made the next turning, she waved over to the driver, a hired-hand with a soundproof window between himself and JUDE, to pull over.  
  
"It'd be annoying if Nijimura complains about getting heat. We'll walk the rest of the way." JUDE said. Enya was already in a panic at the thought.  
  
"B-But Lady Jude! It's the early afternoon! Even with the precautions-"  
  
"The pain means nothing." JUDE was lying. The pain was the important thing in this. "Even if it does, never killed anyone."  
  
JUDE had needed protection from the sun. In order to protect herself, she wrapped herself in multiple layers of black clothing and bandages to protect her skin. It even came up to the face itself as every hair was pushed down. To complete the effect, she wore an undertaker's hat and black-tinted round glasses for her eyes.  
  
She looked like a fucking freak but now she could walk in the sun.  
  
JUDE and Enya walked together in the broad daylight. They were close enough to the actual school that there wasn't much traffic or notice drawn to them and most of the students and teachers were presumably either studying or researching Talent. At least, that was how it'd be when they entered the school.  
  
First, they'd have to get through security. There were two guards posted at the gate and they were answering to a man who looked to be in charge of them. He had short dark green hair and pink eyes that clashed with his tanned skin. He was a tall and muscular man, if nothing compared to JoJo's body, whose dark blue uniform was straining to keep on his body.  
  
JUDE could see a temper struggling to control itself under the weight of anxiety and self-depreciation. This was what she saw with the eyes of an analyst.  
  
He was also the Ultimate Boxer Juzo Sakakura who JUDE remembered from watching all those boxing matches.  
  
Juzo himself saw two strange people making their way towards a place he was meant to keep strange people out of.  
  
"Hey, you," He said, starting off with a firm tone of voice. "You can't enter without a pass and I'm pretty sure neither of you have it. Get lost."  
  
"Fool. Do you even know who you're speaking to?" Enya asked, pointing at him with her walking-stick. JUDE could see he was already irritated.  
  
"Someone who'll get knocked out if they take a step inside these gates." He added. He looked away from Enya and stared directly at JUDE with a mixture of confusion and contempt.  
  
JUDE decided to respond to the threat maturely.  
  
She pointed to him, then to her crotch, and then with that same hand she made the hand motion of jerking off right next to her mouth. The implications were pretty clear.  
  
Juzo certainly understood it, judging by the full-blown rage. "You asshole! Screw it. I dare you to try and get in. See how getting knocked the fuck out by the Ultimate Boxer feel-"  
  
JUDE stepped over over the line and into Hope's Peak Academy. She stood right next to this man who threatened her and remained still for a moment.  
  
Juzo's eyes turned completely white and his jaw was wide open. His stomach currently had JUDE's fist pressing against it hard and a few of his ribs had been broken from the force of the blow. He had never been hit so hard in his entire life until now. He had never even seen it coming.  
  
He had never fought a vampire before.  
  
As he collapsed onto the ground, JUDE used that to chop the other two guards on the neck before they called for back-up. The last thing JUDE wanted was for her to gain unwanted attention. Not yet, anyway. If that meant killing some guards, then that was their problem.  
  
Enya certainly saw the light side of it. She was laughing at the fool who thought he could fight JUDE and was already dashing to her master's side as fast as her little legs could carry her. The two made their way forward.  
  
JUDE stopped and turned back for a moment.  
  
First, she placed one of the guards on their backs. Next, she moved Juzo onto his stomach and placed his face against the first guards' crotch. After that she placed the second guard's crotch over Juzo's ass and left the three positioned like that.  
  
"Lady JUDE, I will confess that your humour can be crude," Enya said with an evil grin. "But not lacking in humour."  
  
The two women shared a common laugh of mockery for their victims and continued their stroll down Hope's Peak Academy. Today had been going to plan, but in a good way! JUDE had her map as to where Izuru Kamukura was being kept and all he needed was a little show of the power of despair. Then he'd be hers and she'd be able to leave with a victory.  
  
In fact, JUDE was in such a good mood, that she wasn't going to do that. Not yet.  
  
She was going to commit to the lucky streak and see where it'd take her. She was going to do more than corrupt the pet-project of Hope's Peak Academy. No, that felt too small now. She was going for something bigger! Something badder!  
  
"Hey, Enya, you think classes are in session?" JUDE asked as she stared up at one of the buildings. "Let's have some real fun while we're here."  
  


\---  


Interruptions rarely happened for Chisa Yukizome's class.  
  
Students running late or popping into class for only a moment or to pick up another student was common in most other classes. Hope's Peak was meant to be a research facility first and a school second. The Ultimates were meant to foster their Talent and so classes were not mandatory. A formerly controversial policy before it'd been accepted.  
  
Not with Chisa Yukizome, whose methods were unorthodox, even for a teacher at Hope's Peak who put her status as an educator above researcher.  
  
The interruptions were mostly students running late or teachers asking for a certain students over a project they'd been working on. The kind of reasons you'd find in any school, to be honest. It was still rare enough that it took the class by surprise.  
  
So when class was interrupted by two new people, however, that had been a shock.  
  
One was a massive giant of a person at 195cm height, wearing opaque dark glasses and an undertaker's hat, and was covered head to toe in black layers of some kind. Next to her was a tiny old Middle-Eastern woman with a wooden cane the size of her. On the former's face was a large smile that showed her lack of teeth.  
  
The Ultimate Traditional Dancer Hiyoko Saionji moved to whisper into Ultimate Photographer Mahiru Koizumi's ear to joke about it, when the woman made a run for it.  
  
Not out of the room, definitely not, but to the side where the windows were. She jumped extremely high for a woman of her age and pulled each of the blinds down completely. The room was covered in darkness except for the lights on the ceiling.  
  
Yukizome, confused at how to react, tried to softly clap and be kind about it. "O-Okay, let's give her a hand for that display of athleticism!"  
  
"I do not need your approval. I merely ensured that Lady JUDE could address you and your class without fear of the sunlight." Enya snapped. A few of the students bristled at the insult.  
  
"Thanks, Enya. That mask was getting stuffy as fuck." The woman named JUDE began to remove the hat and protective layers around her head.   
  
What was revealed was the face of a beautiful woman. Her eyes were blue like the sea and her hair was a strawberry-blonde with two massive twintails. The hair-ties had the unique design of one being a lovable white bear and the other was a sinister black bear with a red stripe for an eye. The woman's most catching feature, however, was the aura she produced that was both menacing and enticing.  
  
"Okay kids I've got great news." She said with a clap of her hands. "School's out! Forever!"  
  
The entire class could only sit and stare in confusion. What did this woman mean by that? It was clear by now that neither would have been let in under normal circumstances and were now saying school was over? What authority did they even have?  
  
And why were the students and teacher beginning to feel afraid?  
  
The much-smaller woman stepped in on her master's behalf with uproarious laughter. One of her eyes bulged as she jabbed her staff towards the seated students.  
  
"You have all been chosen to serve under Lady JUDE's plan to take the foundations of this world and shatter it! She will rebuild it in her own image and all the world will resemble her. Your school-days have ended and now you will flower under her light!" Enya shouted.  
  
"W-What are you talking about?" Yukizome asked. She couldn't take much more of this. The two of them had to leave now. "How did you get past security?"  
  
She wanted her classroom to be a place of learning and fun where their hope could shine. That didn't mean she wanted them to be deluded.  
  
That question was meant to make her students aware that these two women were not welcome. Yukizome could handle herself in a fight and a number of her students were among the toughest fighters that Hope's Peak had ever seen. They knew how to protect themselves and their classmates.  
  
Yukizome's class knew this and were ready! They all recognised the threat and were already readying to either fight or hide and not be dead-weight for their friends. This had been the result of months of coming together as a class and becoming friends. Working together would surely help them throw these intruders out!  
  
JUDE, meanwhile, shrugged her shoulders in response to the question about security. She guessed security mean that guy with the green hair.   
  
"I punched him in the stomach and broke three of his ribs. Not that hard. Now then, one of you is going to have to get a bus. Security-shutdown's going to be a few more minutes but it's good to plan ahead." JUDE instructed, as if they had already agreed to join her.  
  
"We're not going with you, you crazy bitch!" Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, the Ultimate Yakuza, snapped. He didn't have his gun, but he still knew how to hold his own and had never backed down before!  
  
Enya practically hissed at the blond boy, "How dare you address Lady JUDE that-" She stopped when JUDE raised a hand.  
  
"...Enya, I remembered to tag them, right?" JUDE asked. Her confusion wasn't believed. It was an obvious bit, as was when she slapped her own forehead. "Oh my God, I completely forgot Phase Two! No wonder the rep didn't show off her Stand. Urgh, what is with me today? Hang on."  
  
JUDE pretended to search through pockets that weren't there and Enya waited politely. She had grown used to her master's eccentricities as she knew that she was a woman unlike any other. They had agreed on how they would decide the first of their new set of followers.  
  
Yukizome and her class, however, were watching as the tall woman had closed her eyes and was going around in circles trying to find whatever it was she was looking for. It was stupid and yet the room had fallen to a chill. No one dared move from their seats as a sense of overwhelming danger filled their bodies and weighed them down like lead.  
  
Then, all of a sudden, it happened!  
  
Enya pulled out a golden arrowhead with an insect design and threw it into the air. JUDE without hesitating jumped and spin-kicked it towards the class. It was an amazing show of precision and speed that the arrowhead raced off from JUDE's kick and went point-first towards the person in its path.  
  
It had been too quick and bizarre for anyone to act in time. No one could blame themselves for not catching it.  
  
But that thought was on no one's mind when they saw Chiaki Nanami, class-representative and Ultimate Gamer, sit there and shakily raised her hand towards where the arrowhead had pierced her heart. A thin trickle of blood dripped down from her mouth and she fell face-first against the desk.  
  
"Nanami!" Yukizome screamed out. The faint but steady breathes of her student were the only thing keeping her from joining some of the children in rushing to her side. Instead, she turned and felt an anger she had never known before all for this woman named JUDE. "I won't let you hurt my precious students!"  
  
At that, she drew the blades she had since the first day on the job. It had been a good bluff for Kuzuryuu, but she kept it in case of emergencies, even if she prayed never to have to use them. She just had to remember the lessons that Kyosuke and Sakakura had taught her about fighting.  
  
Among her beloved class, Ultimate Swordswoman Peko Pekoyama drew her blade, Ultimate Gymnast and Ultimate Team-Manager Akane Owari and Nidai Nekomaru looked ready to tear JUDE and Enya to pieces, and Kuzuryuu and Ultimate Princess Sonia Nevermind both were trained for fighting. All of them were prepared to stop these two madwomen from hurting anyone else. That was just from those who hadn't been able to rush to Nanami's side.  
  
(Had any of them been more attentive to the Arrow, or at least paid as much attention to it as JUDE did, then they may have noticed that the Arrow was dislodging itself from her body. That it didn't fly over to the next student merely because it could not decide which spirit was stronger.)  
  
JUDE took it in high spirits. Her eyes lit up as if she was a child on Christmas Day instead of an outnumbered enemy.  
  
"Holy shit! You guys actually want to throw down?! Holy shit! You made that thing go wild! You know what this means?" She asked. Her muscles flexed and Enya tightened her grip on her cane, but the vampire just clapped her hands and held back her head laughing. "This I gotta see! But not right now! We'll have plenty of time to see what you can do. And here I thought it was just one extra; but now I've hit the jackpot!"  
  
Vines spewed out from her hair. They were long and green and slithered like snakes with heads that resembled flowers if not for the sharp metallic ends. JUDE had used these flesh-buds before on otherwise completely unwilling subjects. It was a quick and easy way of subduing them when she didn't feel like giving the time to doing the work herself.  
  
They did help to make people listen to her. Not to mention frightening the shit out of said victims.  
  
"Wh-What the hell?!" Kazuichi Souda, the Ultimate Mechanic, was prone to panic sometimes. In this case, his horror was shared by all his classmates and teacher.  
  
JUDE, however, became even happier with these faces. Hope and determination had given way to despair already!  
  
"I can't believe I have a whole class of potential Stand-users! For once, I don't hate gravity for pulling me along! You'll all make lovely assassins. I can just see the potential of despair in all of you. I'd even give you a personal touch but," JUDE smirked as the Hope's Peak security system came into effect. The walls and doors outside were locked by metal shutters. There would be no sunlight now. "We're on a time limit and I got places to be so I'll make this quick."  
  
She didn't get everyone with the flesh-buds. A good thing too as that'd be disappointingly perfect. But she got a few and that was enough. The five students who had tried to stand against her physically were good enough for hunting the others.  
  
Chiaki Nanami was floating in and out of consciousness for the next few minutes. Her body felt strange and she could hear screams and feel someone running and carrying her, but it took time for her senses to really return. Nanami had felt the arrowhead slide out from her body from she'd been picked up. She couldn't recall if Tsumiki said that was a good thing or not in these cases.  
  
When she awoke fully, however, she found that she was in Miss Yukizome's arms in a hallway stained with blood. Laughter that sounded like her classmates', but was too cruel to be them, echoed across and drew closer. Confusion filled her mind and she didn't know what to do!  
  
Yukizome put her down and told her of an escape route. She said that she had to go back and find the others and tell them the same. She told Nanami to keep running and to not trust her classmates, even though it pained her to say it.  
  
She followed the instructions and found herself just outside the closed-off building. The fresh air should have been welcome, but all it did was slap her in the face. She couldn't feel relief right now! One minute, everything was fine, and the next it was chaos!  
  
Nanami couldn't believe it. This was happening too fast!   
  
Why was there blood everywhere? Who was that woman? Why were her classmates apparently different? Who was this sliver humanoid figure?   
  
She could recognise the video-game buttons on its face and for some reason felt attached to it. She could not recognise the short staff with a spherical end on one side and a flat end on it and yet it felt so familiar. It was like she had seen it before somewhere and was as recognisable to her as the face of her parents.  
  
In fact, she could say without a doubt that while she'd never met the creature before in its or her life, she knew its name off by heart.  
  
Could it be that...this was the result of that arrow?! Was this what JUDE planned? She wanted to give all of Class 77-B these strange things and do something to them?  
  
Nanami had to go back! But what would Miss Yukizome say? She had to help her friends but at the same time didn't want her teacher to lose her if she came back!  
  
The ghostly person hovered behind her and placed its staff against the ground. The spherical end was on the top and emitted a bright blue light of some kind. Just what was happening?!  
  
Chiaki Nanami did not understand what was going on. She did not know at first that her classmates were slowly being captured and made into slaves of JUDE's Despair. She did not know that her teacher was trying to contact and explain what had happened to her boyfriend outside.   
  
She would go back and try to help her friends.  
  
She would go back and see what the world would call The Tragedy of Hope's Peak.  
  


\---  


Izuru Kamukura was meant to be perfect.  
  
That in itself was a poor assumption to make. Perfection was impossible. All creatures had flaws and those flaws limited their capabilities. If the scientists of Hope's Peak Academy were being literal, they would have said that Izuru Kamukura was meant to be the closest thing to perfect.  
  
Why not? He had hundreds of Talents built inside him and no past to colour his perceptions or warp his mind away from pure logic and reason. There was nothing capable of holding him back or down from achieving more Talent. He had no desires that would compromise his status as Hope.  
  
Or as a tool for power.  
  
In turn, no one on this earth could overpower Izuru Kamukura. No one on this earth could outsmart Izuru Kamukura. No one on this earth could surpass Izuru Kamukura. Most of all, no one on this earth could surprise Izuru Kamukura.  
  
And yet here he was; lying on the floor of his cell under the boot of this strange woman.  
  
 _Scarring around the neck indicates surgical attachment. Differences in skin-tone and body structure supports this as well. Counter-arguments: No doctor has been proven capable of a full head-transplant with so many divergences between subjects. Flaw: No other theory works. Agility outpaces Ultimate Sprinter. Combat exceeds both Ultimate Fighters. Analysis matches own._  
  
An old woman's cackle interrupted him. "They believed this boy to be the peak of humanity? He didn't even last five seconds against the power of Lady JUDE! She did not even need The World itself!" She said, in thick-accented English, her words clearly designed to damage his pride.  
  
"Enya, be nicer to him," 'JUDE' said, making a pretence of scolding her subordinate. They both spoke the same language, which Izuru's Ultimate Linguist Talent assisted with understanding. "After all, we do share the same eyes."  
  
Izuru paused and considered her words. He had expected that she had the Analyst Talent but wondered how it was that she'd never considered Hope's Peak. Even with anti-ageing techniques, she looked far too young to have pre-dated Hope's Peak. And yet, he had no other idea on how she escaped notice.  
  
"Izuru Kamukura, I heard about your case-file from an associate of an associate with ties to this place." JUDE said as she shifted her boot on his back left and right. The pain was a surprise but not enough to make him react. "Hope's Peak have created an Ultimate Hope. They gave him every Talent they could and he will inspire humanity to forever cast aside Despair."  
  
"You have an affection for Despair. If so, why have you not killed me? You clearly are capable of doing so." Izuru replied. JUDE hid her scoff behind a laugh.  
  
"I don't kill people I don't feel threatened by. I met the Ultimate Hope once, kid, and you're nowhere near him. Sure, those scientists may have made you harder, better, faster, stronger, and all that stuff, but you're not Hope. Do you know how I know?" She asked.  
  
Izuru was expected to give an answer but chose not to. It was unnecessary when he'd receive the correct answer regardless.  
  
"Because the Ultimate Hope's supposed to give a shit." JUDE crouched down. It should have presented an opening, but she was far too strong for him. "It's boring right? Being able to do anything at any time? Never feeling challenged by any task or question? Easily surpassing your peers in every aspect?"  
  
"To survive is to get what you want; money, fame, power, respect, love, carnal pleasure," Enya chuckled lowly as she spoke, her English affected by her Egyptian accent. "But you have to fight for it! But what if you never had to fight for it? What if you could simply acquire them without more than the slightest effort? How does one find importance in reaching the top when they never have to put effort into climbing? To them, it must seem like making a fuss over a slight hike!"  
  
"For people like us, we can recognise the strings of Fate and the pull of gravity. We can see that most people can be boiled down to their upbringing and genetics when it comes to their decision-making. We know what they will do and what that will mean and how they will react to that. That pre-determined harmony called Hope is ambrosia to humanity and poison to us," JUDE's voice softened into that of a love-struck teenager's. "For us, we need Despair."  
  
"...how?" Izuru asked. No matter how he looked at it, he could not find the logic. "Despair is the act of being overcome by failure, fear, anxiety, and pain. It is innately negative. I cannot logically analyse a need for it."  
  
Both JUDE and Enya laughed. His words had apparently come off as naive or unenlightened. They seemed to expect him to operate outside of morality and logic intrinsically rather than wait for a superior argument for it. Izuru temporarily ignored the Ultimate Philosopher Talent that argued that his stance alone meant he was at least outside morality.  
  
Instead, he focused on their mockery.  
  
"Logic? That's a hoot! Haven't heard a joke like that in a while!" JUDE slapped her knee a few more times before calming down. She reached a hand down and ruffled his hair. Annoying. "Izuru! Where's the logic in me?! No human can defeat you and I crushed you but will spare you no matter what. What does that make me? Why am I here? What do I even want from all this?"  
  
JUDE had worn multiple black cloaks that covered her whole body except for her head when entering. The pack on Enya's back suggested she did have facial-coverings but had removed them for now. They covered every inch of her skin below the neck. Izuru presumed she could not go out in the sun.  
  
They had come for recruits and went for Izuru last. He had heard agents panicking and calling for back-up, before they were killed by JUDE, implying the two women either made a public break-in or had done something to get attention. The plan was to destabilise Hope's Peak and leave no one to mention their presence here.  
  
Only they would spare Izuru himself? JUDE was not lying in her words.  
  
If she wanted recruits, it would be perfectly logical to select Izuru as one of them, with his array of Talents. He was the best for any job. Only then why would she offer him a choice and let him live if he refused when she was so much stronger? Izuru tried to find an explanation but found that he couldn't-  
  
"See?" JUDE's true voice had come out. Deeper and much more cutting for it. "Despair is an unknown. It the salvation for us who look upon this world and are bored by it. Those of us who are strangled by Fate," Her voice rose as if speaking of an old lover. "But Despair is different. It's messy and cruel and swallows up love and family and friends and leaves it with nothing. The bullet that brings a world war. It's the one thing we can't predict.  
  
"Izuru! I plan on drowning this world itself into Despair! I will ascend to an even greater height and bring it all tumbling down! You can be this world's hope and never be freed from your boredom, or you can join me!" JUDE's voice had now turned frantic. She was a dictator addressing the masses, using sheer charisma to attain support for her atrocities. "Join me and the crusade to scar this world and forever change it! I'll show you just what despair can do! I'll be the one to save you with the only thing that you do not have and have not grown bored with! This is the despairfully fated encounter I have waited for, Izuru!"  
  
"You have a choice, boy!" Enya said, pointing a bony finger at his face. "Will you dedicate yourself to Lady JUDE's cause? Or will you cast it aside and spend the rest of your days trapped in ennui and perfection; a toy for those to use as they wish?"  
  
Izuru did consider their words carefully.  
  
Hope was not his liberation. JUDE was right in that he could predict the path of the world and those who lived in it when Hope reigned. They were predictable and had no need to leave what their mind determined to be logic and morality. Izuru would never be surprised or freed from his boredom.  
  
He disliked JUDE. Her energy was a nuisance and she took a joy in mixing over-the-top affection with barbed jabs and stomping her boot against his back. He distrusted her aura of menace especially. She was hard to predict. And that was why she was right.  
  
Izuru wanted to see the world of despair and if it was truly something he couldn't predict. He wanted to know what this 'The World' was. He wanted to know just what exactly JUDE was if not a human.  
  
The choice before him was clear.  
  
The answer was even clearer.  
  


\---  


JUDE wasn't entirely regretting her decision to take a detour in recruiting Kamukura. Either of them, in fact.  
  
Bringing Class 77-B into Despair, using her flesh-buds to assist in that, had been a fun little whim of hers. She enjoyed breaking them, she enjoyed watching them bring carnage to Hope's Peak Academy, and she had fun watching their new selves break free. All the chaos and pain they wrecked from Tokyo to Cairo.  
  
They had been transformed into extensions of her will and they were mighty fine extensions at that.  
  
But there had been a problem. A problem most in her position would envy, but a problem nonetheless.  
  
 _It's unbalanced. I have too many._ JUDE had more than enough souls to sacrifice now. She could hypothetically just skip to the end and begin ascending to Heaven now, if only she knew for sure if flesh-buds counted as having a corrupted soul. She certainly manipulated them, but not without help.  _They'd need a higher body-count and even then it'd be too quick. I'm not reaching Heaven until I've destroyed all Hope._  
  
JUDE wanted the fight first, however. She wanted to test the Joestars and see if they were truly worthy of being JoJo's heirs! That couldn't work if she just flooded them with Stand-users and sheer numbers overwhelmed them. What was the point?   
  
How could she destroy Hope if she didn't even give it a chance to grow?  
  
The Joestars right now were seeds in the ground. JUDE had to wait for them to properly grow and produce ripe fruit before she could taste it. JUDE's final victory was going to taste sweet, not bitter, and she would make sure of it. Which meant she had to even the odds a bit.  
  
She had discussed her problem with JoJo and the two found a solution. In other words, she threw out ideas and JoJo reacted with varying degrees of horror.  
  
That had been when she came up with an innovative new invention. One that would take the world by storm!  
  
It had to be shared amongst her followers at once! She had told Enya to assemble everyone to the front areas of her temporary hide-out. She had many properties in Cairo, most of which were by rivers, but not this one. Another problem with her new army was that it limited how many places she could stay in without attracting attention.  
  
But it did have the benefit of letting JUDE see every one of her minions assembled by the front gallery of the mansion. It resembled the old front section of the Joestar mansion with its wide halls and luxurious rooms. All of her followers waited by the stairs and hall and could be seen without exception.   
  
The Nine Egyptian Gods, the Major Arcana Stand users, Class 77-B, and even Izuru Kamukura waiting in the shadows with JUDE's beloved Vanilla Ice. All forty-four of her Stand-wielding army.  
  
Naturally, she stood by the centre of where mirroring staircases led to the top and addressed her people. Strapped to her chest was Monokuma whose presence was accepted as one of JUDE's little tendencies.  
  
In this case, he did have a purpose.  
  
"My devoted minions! I have a proclamation to make!" Her voice boomed across the hall and all eyes fell on her. Not even Monokuma detracted from the mix of fear, respect, and worship bubbling underneath the crowd. "I understand that bearing the burden of our new guests has been a trouble for some. It's hard to keep a low-profile when transporting these many terrorists with such a poor reputation."  
  
"Any true follower of yours would be glad to be of service, Lady JUDE." Enya said. She knelt by one of the stairways closest to JUDE. Behind her, Yukizome nodded.  
  
"Do you need us to create a different distraction?" N'Doul asked from the other stairway. JUDE appreciated his commitment to her.  
  
She appreciated his desire to spread evil and despair even more.  
  
"No. That doesn't concern me," JUDE said, somewhat reluctantly. She faked a dramatic sigh and leaned against the banister, she looked down on the masses on the floor level. "What does concern me is the Joestar family. They'll be coming soon and I plan on wiping out that bloodline once and for all!"  
  
A loud roar of appreciation came out from all sides. Most were from her true believers and those who saw their dreams in JUDE but even those frightened into service lent her voices, albeit from fear.  
  
"But, I have a problem." JUDE said. "See, I want you all to fight as hard as you can and to push them to the limit. Even kill them! But I don't want you all to just charge at them and wipe them out before they even get close. I want them to have a fighting chance!"  
  
That got everyone confused. Pet Shop, N'Doul, Vanilla Ice, and Kamukura were the only ones who weren't confused or dismayed by JUDE's words. Surely the point of fighting was to achieve victory, was it not? Surely this was good news that she had too many for the Joestars!  
  
Vanilla Ice, who understood that his mistress' word was law at all times, remained silent out of that loyalty. Kamukura and N'Doul, who understood JUDE's Despair in theory, remained silent because they knew that such an advantage was one she'd cast aside without a doubt.  
  
 _He's definitely going to make it. I don't think anyone here could beat his pitiful, disgusting, despairing Stand if he unlocked it now._ JUDE didn't show Izuru The World. She didn't consider him worthy of its power. Not yet, anyway.  
  
No. She'd just have to use it by stopping time when she was sure he didn't notice.  
  
"Do you wish us to limit the number going out to meet them?" Chisa asked. Class 77-B's teacher had proven a decent coordinator for her students' more recent acts of despair.  
  
JUDE shrugged her shoulders. "Kind of. If too many of you stay here, we'll have the same problem as before. There's just too many Stand-users here than what I can bare down on the Joestars themselves!" JUDE motioned her arms to sweep along the crowd. She then stiffed her back and slammed her fist against the banister. "So we need to cut out the dead-weight!"  
  
Class 77-B liked the sound of that, as did some of JUDE's more ambitious assassins who hadn't taken kindly to these new arrivals. Neither cheered however. Murmurs of confusion and realisation hit them. Those like the D'Arby and Oingo Boingo Brothers started looking for exits and convenient hiding places. Others were beginning to panic.  
  
"New plan! We're going to have what I call a Mutual Killing Game. No one is exempt! No one is immune! We're going to cut this organisation down to the nice and round number of thirty! That's right! Thirty people will live! Class 77-B makes this forty-four, so just fourteen have to die! Who'll it be!"  
  
"L-Lady JUDE!" Enya seemed confused by it. Not by the Mutual Killing Game- they'd discussed it already- but by a certain condition of JUDE's. "What do you mean by no one is exemp-"  
  
Enya shot upwards into the ceiling head-first. She fell to the ground until she was halfway to the staircase and was then flung against the wall behind JUDE face-first yet again. The old woman probably had a concussion at least and had been knocked out by the second strike.  
  
Another Brick On The Wall pointed its switch at the very point where Enya had fallen whilst Yukizome pulled out one of her knives and threw it at Enya's back. The old woman could do nothing as the blade sunk into the back of her throat and killed her instantly.  
  
JUDE's first follower, one of her confidants, and one of the only four of her original team who she felt the slightest genuine bond with, had been the first death of this Killing Game.  
  
"Mother!" J Geil cried out. Everyone was frozen solid; they all knew that Enya was the second in command.  
  
"I mean no one is exempt." JUDE deadened her voice to make it very clear. No one thought she was bluffing or lying. "Now kill each other in my name!"  
  
And so began the Mutual Killing Game.  
  
Some of JUDE's old assassins had been smart and knew their Stands were worthless in direct combat. They chose to hide themselves and wait until fourteen others had died. Others, like Anubis, chose someone pliable to use them so that they would survive. Some of the more pathetic ones reached for him as their only hope. At most, they worked in pairs.   
  
Class 77-B, on the other hand, was a unit. They worked as a single body to pick out and eliminate not the easiest targets, but those who they could tell JUDE cared little for. Sometimes they got it right and sometimes they pursued their own despair. JUDE could see little from the chaos, but knew she would be able to review it later.  
  
Vanilla Ice was one of the few originals who went for a hard target. He was already hiding inside Cream and was making his way directly towards Izuru Kamukura. It seemed he wished to either eliminate a rival for JUDE's affection or bring her despair by destroying a target she had an interest in. Such a good boy with an amazing Stand.  
  
Too bad he was going to die.  
  
It lasted less than a minute. The flurry of bodies and blood and fury of battle ended as JUDE clapped her hands and the masses turned their eyes towards her. Fourteen were dead, but far more were injured in various ways, and it was clear that had JUDE delayed for even a few more seconds, the death-toll might have doubled.  
  
She pushed the Monokuma towards the pile of bodies littering the floor and made sure its eyes could see every last detail. She giggled to herself.  
  
"I hope you're getting all this. No looking away or I'll have to introduce a punishment game!" JUDE said to the Monokuma. Or rather, the camera in the white half's eye.  
  


\---  


A minute after surveying the scene with her own eyes, JUDE decided to conduct a little tour and review how the First Mutual Killing Game had gone.  
  
"Alessi, Cameo, Arabia Fats, Kenny G, Devo," JUDE listed. She stopped when she found someone she actually gave a shit about who she hadn't see die personally. "Fuck! The monkey died!"  
  
"Blame the dumbass!" Souda pointed to Gundham, who was shaking from his tears and despair. "He's the one who wanted to despair by killing an animal! Doesn't even have the balls to turn on his hamsters!"  
  
"If it's for despair then it's fine." JUDE said. She still bit her lip and looked at the dead orangutan. "Really fucking liked that monkey. Still, we got the baby...somehow. How fucking hard is it to kill a baby?"  
  
Then again, Mannish Baby and Anubis were positioned close to each other. Had they actually teamed up?! Holy shit, JUDE was definitely re-watching the fight now.  
  
As for the wounded survivors, JUDE went around and used her healing powers to assist them. It was a chore both emotionally and physically, but it had to be done. None of them were angry with her because to be angry with her was to be angry with the sun for burning their skin.   
  
It would be to presume an act of nature could be controlled.  
  
Class 77-B looked at her with simpering affection as if they were dogs. It was kind of cute, but in a different way to how cute the fear and loss of stability was with her old assassins. Mariah and Midler almost gasped when she approached them. Boingo looked ready for a panic-attack too and Steely Dan had been denying that he'd been begging Tsumiki for mercy, even when he lacked an eye and a straw-doll looking like him had a pin through its own.  
  
JUDE also had to take over from Hol Horse in giving J Geil a pep-talk.  
  
"J Geil, your mother died in service of me. She died thinking to the end that it was worth it." She had said to the bawling serial killer, when not thinking about laughing at how large he was compared to the midget in his arms. "If you want to honour her, then you should obey my orders with a smile on your face. I'll even let you play with Polnareff when we're done here."  
  
"Are we being sent out, Master?" Sonia Nevermind led the rest of her class in falling to their hands and knees. The survivors of JUDE's original assassins joined them in bowing so lowly.   
  
"Nah. We've still got some time until the Joestars will probably get moving. In the meantime, we can all have some fun. Get this place cleaned up first. Smells like a goddamn shit-heap. There's a room to put the corpses in." JUDE commanded. She needed to do one last thing before this Mutual Killing Game could be officially concluded.  
  
JUDE decided to leave her followers to their work. None of them would disobey her, brainwashed or otherwise, even after this Killing Game. In fact, a reminder of how many fanatics she had would make them especially loyal. They'd now fear the consequences of desertion.  
  
Izuru too now had an idea of what Despair was.  
  
Pet Shop sat upon her shoulder as she walked and she welcomed his company. The falcon did well to remain in the skies and rain ice down on all in front of it. She had been very happy to see the icicle through Alessi's head. She didn't want her new arrivals to be the only ones to secure a kill.  
  
Not when she had plans for all of her minions now. She could use them on the Joestars and that one final member of Class 77-B who had slipped through her fingers. The one Chisa has confessed to letting free before she realised the majesty of JUDE. In more ways than one, she might add.  
  
What was to be done with Chiaki Nanami, JUDE wondered. Her class seemed eager to break her into despair, but then would it not be more despairing to make them kill her? They'd spit upon the bond that tied them together! They'd murder one of their beloved friends in JUDE's name!  
  
Then again, why not complete the set?  
  
JUDE would have to think about this later. She still had plenty of time and plenty of things to do before worrying about who to send which assassin where. She could just go to her room and have a bit of fun with another side-project of hers.  
  
 _I've got a certain person to visit. I've kept him waiting long enough._ JUDE headed for her bedroom. Not the personal one where JoJo would be waiting for her, but her normal one. The one where she liked to have some fun with her minions and whoever Enya picked up for the night.  
  
She strolled to her bed and sat down next to her guest. They were sat on a chair and had done nothing but watch the television she installed on their desk since she left. Good. They followed orders.  
  
"So how was it? Pretty cool, right? Wasn't it just the most amazing thing you've ever seen? I bet you couldn't look away." JUDE leaned in so she'd face the same screen as her little buddy.  
  
The chair had strapped them in tightly along the legs and hands and even around the waist and forehead. With their weak physique, escape was impossible. Even so, they struggled feebly and tried to escape. Loose silken clothing had a few tears along the straps and more than a couple of stains themselves.  
  
It was the work of all those teardrops coming down from their face. Having their eyes forced-open probably wasn't good for them, but only an idiot would think that was the reason for their weeping. If it weren't for the ball-gag, the screaming might have been decipherable instead of a collection of noises coming from his mouth.  
  
The Ultimate Animator was certainly more lively than he'd been back at Hope's Peak.  
  
"Ryota Mitarai, was it?" She asked, pretending to have forgotten his name. Sagishi had been so helpful in keeping him from running when they saw each other. "Skipping class is a bad thing. With all those lessons you missed, I'm afraid it's a lot more detention for you until you can play with your drawings again. Also, I may have some commissions for you to focus on over your dream-project. You don't mind do you?"  
  
Mitarai screamed into his gag and shook his head. He probably meant refusing JUDE's commands but she knew she'd get him to not mind it all soon enough. He was so cooperative like that! Just being near him was a source of tasty despair! He was so emotional about being able to watch the Killing Game that it was infectious! She had to pat him on the head like he was a puppy!  
  
"Don't worry, Mitty. It's not all that bad. I have an acquaintance coming round whose just like you. He's boring and doesn't like despair." JUDE said. He'd be coming for answers about why his brother and sister wanted to fuck and he'd leave with a very different goal. "I think you'll both get along great."  
  
Meeting him had been amazing. Two despairingly fateful encounters in one day!  
  
JUDE couldn't do anything but lie down on the bed and laugh. She shoved the covers away and rolled around on the bed. Everything was just so exciting at the moment! There was so much fun she had before her! So many new possibilities for her to try out with the recruitment of Class 77-B!  
  
"And if they don't work out, I always have a few back-ups." JUDE mused to herself. Enya and Vanilla Ice had been so loyal to her. It seemed like such a waste to lose them now and to an incomplete Mutual Killing Game like that. "Not to mention the kids next door. I got a lot of lovely little catches."  
  
So many different despairs and so little time. She'd use the results of her second detour later tonight when visiting them. They were so cute and great catches! She had the perfect chance to set up the perfect army for the Joestars now!  
  
She was on such a great high! But it wasn't enough. It was never enough! She wanted more despair! More!  
  
Mitarai's first drawing for her would be tonight. No sense in delaying a good thing. His drawings were amazing and his ideas of implementing brainwashing techniques into them was inspired! If only he hadn't been using them for a stupid thing like Hope. Now he could use them for important things!  
  
But which one first?  
  
It'd have to be Class 77-B. Mariah and Midler would probably be downers tonight and the same went for N'Doul, but mostly because he liked to be contemplative at these times and that wasn't what JUDE wanted right now.  
  
Maybe someone like Sonia or Saionji? Their luscious long blonde hair was a great reminder of a certain other high-class lady from the past. JUDE could finally start roleplaying some of her fantasies at last! With some actual hotties as well.  
  
In that case, maybe she'd be better starting with one of the boys. Hanamura and Sagishi were too chubby for her for tonight, not to mention the former was a midget along with Fuyuhiko, Souda would be too pathetic, and Nagito was a goddamn stick. What had happened to the days of big muscular men?  
  
Nekomaru and Tanaka had nice, big chests and it was easy to imagine them getting all worked up and inspired just like JoJo used to. It'd be fun to imagine having the old arguments with JoJo as either she or him would hold the other down and start getting nasty.  
  
Izuru might have a Talent for this kind of stuff but he was still at the 'boring old fish' stage of understanding Despair. She didn't think he had what she wanted in a man.   
  
Maybe she could go back to the girls! Mikan and Chisa were always up for some fun, hell they were begging for it! Akane and Ibuki too seemed like it'd be a blast to see how long they could last! Just even one of them might be enough to sate the sex-drive of JoJo's body!  
  
JUDE's mind turned to Peko and recalled that stoic and unyielding loyalty. Add on the actual boobs and JUDE could pretend it was a trip down memory-lane as well. There was also that long hair to hold and pull. Oh hell, just make it an orgy! She could get to know everyone and their pros of cons of being banged. It'd be fun to see Peko's hair pool out as JUDE went to work.  
  
Not like Mahiru's short, stupid, bobbed-cut hair that totally made her look like a tomboy with...those...freckles....  
  
JUDE paused.  
  
 _Her. It'll be her. No one else. Just her. The whole night._ JUDE turned to Pet Shop, who was glaring at Mitarai, and was probably antsy after being allowed to kill an actual human.  
  
"Get Hol Horse. He needs to buy something before he and J Geil are to be sent off." She commanded. Her voice easily overtook Mitarai's gagged whimpers and the falcon took flight to carry out her order.  
  
She'd need black hair-dye.  
  
Lots and lots of black hair-dye.  
  


\---  


Jotaro stared at the photos in front of him intently, pictures of a coffin covered in barnacles save for the latch marked with the words JUDE on them, a small red stone in between the four words. It was open as well, showing the perfectly preserved inside of the coffin.  
  
There was nothing inside it however.  
  
Jotaro glanced up at his grandfather, Joseph Joestar. The man had returned to his life after god knows how many years to get Jotaro out of the jail cell he placed himself in to protect his mother and others from the Evil Spirit that had been haunting him.  
  
He came with a man named Muhammad Avdol and a young woman not much older than Jotaro himself, her head buried into a handheld. After the woman had assured the elder Joestar she made a 'Save Point' outside, he had Avdol try to get him out of the cell.  
  
Turned out his 'Evil Spirit' was something called a Stand, a manifestation of his fighting spirit or whatever.  
  
After Avdol had gotten him out of his cell (on a technicality), Joseph brought him and his mom to a restaurant with Avdol as well as the woman.  
  
They sat on a table with various drinks (The woman having coffee with a shitton of sugar), and Joseph explained the reason why he had the Stand in the first place.  
  
It had to do with his great great grandfather, Jonathan Joestar, and some woman from a hundred years ago named Jude.  
  
His grandfather described her as evil incarnate, and it was their duty to fight her.  
  
Jotaro let out a sigh and turned his head.  
  
"What are you doing, making that face!?" The old man demanded in anger. "You're acting like none of this matters to you!!!"  
  
"This face..." Jotaro began as he glared at his grandfather. "Is the face of someone who thinks 'This story is so stupid, I can't believe it Gramps."  
  
"Gramps!?" Joseph shouted in shock.  
  
Jotaro turned his head to Avdol. "Avdol was it? You sure seem full of yourself." Then he turned back to his grandfather. "And Gramps, do you expect me to hear such a crazy story and just say 'Oh, I see' and believe it?"  
  
Suddenly, the sound of clattering plastic and the familiar sound of 'game over' was heard. "It's not just a story!" Jotaro turned his attention to the woman who slammed her hands on the table and actually looked legitimately mad, which was surprising because he'd only seen her be apathetic and her face buried in her game. "It's true, all of it is true!!"  
  
"Oh?" Jotaro huffed as he crossed his legs. "And what proof do you have?"  
  
"I..." She looked down. Gramps gave her a worried look, one which Avdol mirrored.  
  
"Chiaki..."  
  
"No, no he needs to hear this so that he can believe!" The woman, Chiaki, took in a deep breath. "My name is Chiaki Nanami. I am the class representative of Class 77-B of Hope's Peak Academy."  
  
"That fancy-pants school huh? The one will all the 'Ultimates' and shit?" It was a name that had authority. Whoever made it in was set for life.  
  
"Yes. I am the Ultimate Gamer." Her voice became quiet. "Just...just a few months ago, someone strange came into our school. It was JUDE. She...she shot all of us with a strange arrow, said that it was amazing that there was an entire class of potential Stand users. We tried to run, but one by one she captured us. I was the last one left...Miss Yukizome hid me well enough. I knew where she was, hiding in some lab on campus. I went there to try and free my friends using my Stand. But then...when I saw her...she..." Jotaro noted that tears were coming out of her eyes. "She changed my friends! They became monsters who loved to torture and kill people! They...they tried to kill me. I wanted to reach out to them, but instead I..."   
  
Now the sobs came, and her shoulders were shaking. Gramps placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "So I used my Stand, Just Push Play, to transport me to a save point I set up outside of Hope's Peak and I ran as far and as fast as I could. I...I was just so scared! I felt so helpless! But I still ran away when my friends needed me! I wanted to crawl in a hole and die as the news reports of what my friends were doing spread. Then... Mister Joestar and Avdol found me. They...they said they're going to stop her, but they need your help! I need your help Jotaro!"  
  
"We only found her because of the Speedwagon Foundation," Avdol added. Nanami couldn't speak any further, having given into her tears. "The police reported her as the only one not found committing similar acts of depravity. She had fled home and hid in her room for days; she would not eat, drink, or even move. They couldn't make sense of what she said, knowing nothing of Stands or vampires, but news leaked and Mister Joestar and I were informed. We were lucky she was judged innocent, otherwise we might have been forced to utilise...morally-questionable means of helping her, but she was near insanity's grip when we arrived and revealed our Stands."  
  
As Nanami continued to sob and his mom placed her hands on Nanami's, Jotaro gave a sigh.  
  
"That's still not proof."  
  
"Jotaro!" His mom admonished with a scandalized look. Avdol also shot him a glare while Gramps gave him a stern look.  
  
"Do you think I'm making this up!?" Nanami demanded in anger.  
  
"Not saying you did. There are plenty reports of the students from Hope's Peak who went fucking nuts and killed a bunch of the student body before falling off the grid. The news won't shut up about it. I'm not denying that your classmates lost it." Jotaro raised a hand as he went, "I'm having trouble understanding how a hundred year old woman is involved and was responsible for all this."  
  
"Fine. If you need proof..." Gramps held out his hand, and Avdol took out a Polaroid camera from his sleeve. "I'll show you the power of the Stand I got just a year ago!" Purple vines spread over Gramps' right arm while Avdol placed the camera on the table. "HERMIT PURPLE!!!"  
  
Suddenly, Gramps swung his arm and broke the camera. A photo shot out, and Gramps prattled on about its power being to take Spirit Photographs at the cost of a camera and Avdol shooing a waiter away. He then went on about their star shaped birthmarks... "What does this have to do with the photo!?" Jotaro demanded as he took the photo out of his grandfather's hand and looked at it.  
  
In the photo was what appeared to be a man, but with the head of a woman with outrageously big blonde pigtails. Running her hands all over her body with a wide satisfied grin on her face. Along the neckline were red scars.  
  
Just above her left shoulder blade and before her neck was a star shaped birthmark.  
  
"This is JUDE! She's the one who's been showing up in my spirit photos! And... And the body she had is that of Jonathan Joestar, her adoptive brother and my grandfather!"  
  
Jotaro looked down at the woman and had a bad feeling in his gut that this wouldn't be the last time that he'd see her with that dopey but sinister smile on her face. If she was as crazy as Gramps and Nanami said, then Jotaro had a feeling she was going to be a big problem.  
  
A really big goddamn problem, if he was honest.  
  
 _Good grief._  
  


\---  


"Chiaki, this is going to be a dangerous mission. We will be risking our lives against JUDE." Avdol said. He wasn't scolding her, but he was certainly warning her against this decision. "We may also have to fight for our lives against those she has corrupted. This is not something to be taken lightly and chosen out of emotion." He added.  
  
Avdol was right. Nanami knew he was right.  
  
Nanami's place in the group had always been awkward. Mister Joestar had tried to hide it when it was just her and Avdol as his companions, but he didn't seem to like Japan that much. On the bright side, it seemed to be more him hating his son-in-law, sleeping on a matt, and his daughter living in Japan rather than New York. At least, that was her impression from how he treated her and Jotaro.  
  
But that didn't change the fact that she was still the victim they found and rescued from questioning. The little girl who ran away when the going got tough and her friends were taken from her. The Speedwagon Foundation had powerful links and the reputation of Hope's Peak had collapsed over the last few weeks. They had listened to her story and told her of Stands and JUDE.  
  
They had agreed that she had to be stopped, but it had taken a while to actually get moving. Up until now, she'd been told over and over why they couldn't leave yet. They needed to know where she was and had to be ready for JUDE's assassins...Nanami's classmates, in other words. That meant investigating Jotaro's Stand, for one, and even biding their time training.  
  
"I'd like to leave as soon as possible. I know how badly it feels to know what JUDE is doing," Mister Joestar had said, shortly after the restaurant when Nanami asked if they should just go whatever Jotaro said. Nanami remembered being told of how JUDE took his grandfather's body and how her indirectly killed his father. "But we have to wait. JUDE is probably going to send her minions and it'll be easier with the home-turf advantage. We may even learn more. I'm also being a bit selfish. It's been so long since I've seen Holly and Jotaro," He shook his head. "Even if he's apparently grown into a punk who calls his mother a bitch. I blame his no-good, irresponsible, daughter-seducing father."  
  
Nanami wondered if they considered her a pest for needling them to go sooner. That every day they let her friends and teacher stay with JUDE might as well be a year. It didn't help that she was prone to napping during conversations. She tried to control it!  
  
And that was why she was here. She was standing just outside the Kujo residence where Jotaro, Kakyoin, Avdol, and Mister Joestar had just left. They were making their way to where a taxi would pick them up and take them to a plane to Cairo.   
  
Times had changed! The situation had become more urgent. Kakyoin's arrival, the revelation of Jotaro's ability to remove those evil flesh-buds, and Mrs Joestar's sickness. Waiting to find JUDE's location before leaving was no longer a luxury they had. Jotaro and the others instead agreed to help Mrs Joestar with her sickness and defeat JUDE so that the rogue Stand would go away.  
  
Nanami knew what they'd been considering for her. That she should stay in Japan and hide out with the Speedwagon Foundation's help. It was too dangerous for a girl like her whose Stand lacked extreme fighting ability.  
  
But she was resolute! She had even came with light luggage including her handheld, a few games, a toothbrush, and an automatic charger that Souda had built for her a few months ago.   
  
She stood in front of them and had insisted she come with them. No, she was begging them to let her come with them!  
  
"I know that I'll have to fight my classmates. I know that they'll be completely different from how they used to be." Nanami said. The memory of only a few seconds of how they were still made her want to vomit. "But that's why I have to save them! They're my friends!" She felt tears well in her eyes. It probably didn't help her case, but she couldn't stop them. "I used to be alone and think that was fine. I could sit down and play a game and that'd be it. But now...after meeting everyone...I can't do that! I made so many friends playing games with them...and now they've all been turned by JUDE...and now we have a way to save them! I have to be there for that!"  
  
"It's true. I know what it is to be under her influence. It's a cruel sickness." Kakyoin said. He turned to Joseph. "If her Stand can do what she says it can, it'd be good for an escape route to re-group with."  
  
"Nanami," Jotaro's voice cut through. Nanami hated to admit it, but it was still kind of intimidating to crane her head up and look him in the eye, especially when he seemed so judging. "Are you asking to come with us because you want to fight JUDE or because you can fight JUDE? Is it because you want to stop running, or because you know you won't run? We're not going to take you if you're just dead-weight."  
  
"J-Jotaro!" Avdol said, acting offended on her behalf.  
  
"I know." Nanami replied. "I know that Just Push Play is not a strong Stand. It's a Stand that lets me escape from trouble. It's how I got away while my friends became monsters...I ran away and did nothing. It probably comes off as a selfish Stand, just like it may be selfish for me to come along when I can't fight like you all...but I don't care!" She fought her hardest to not look away from Jotaro's eyes. If she was too scared to look at him, she had no business asking this of him. "I may be sleepy at times and I may focus too hard on games when others are talking, but I won't slow you down when it matters! I need to know that my survival wasn't at the cost of everyone else!"  
  
Nanami did her best to meet not only Jotaro's eyes but everyone else's. She appreciated Avdol's offence on her behalf, but she knew that Jotaro was merely asking the question the others didn't want to say out loud. He was just vocally expressing the idea that Nanami was going to distract them and make things worse.  
  
"...How many of your friends did she steal again?" He asked.  
  
"With Miss Yukizome, sixteen." Nanami admitted. Jotaro put a hand to the tip of his cap and lowered it.  
  
"Good grief," He said, shaking his head. "It's not gonna be fun, Nanami, but I'd be a liar if I said this wasn't mostly personal for me too. Your Stand's useful in a fight, I'll give it that, if not in the normal way. If you can't keep up, you go back. Got it?"  
  
Nanami probably shouldn't have nodded her head so enthusiastically. It gave her a headache and made her feel a bit woozy.  
  
"Very well then. Chiaki Nanami, welcome aboard." Avdol spoke with a familiar warmth. It was one of the many things that he and Mister Joestar had done that made everything before now a bit more bearable.  
  
And now Nanami was going to go with them to put a stop of JUDE once and for all!  
  
"Everyone, we have our objective." Mister Joestar announced. "JUDE yearns to feel the suffering of others. She'll probably send her assassins and Chiaki's friends after us. If we come across them, we've got to do what we can take down her friends without killing them and remove the flesh-buds from their heads. Any objections?"  
  
No one spoke a word. They didn't have to.  
  
"Then we're off to slay a vampire!" He said with a smile coming to his lips. It naturally grew until it covered his face entirely.  
  
Nanami had done it! She had managed to join with Mister Joestar and the others and would be there to try and rescue her friends from JUDE! Nanami wasn't going to run away, this time she was going to face this enemy dead-on and refuse to give in to her despair! She knew it'd be tough. Far tougher than any video game she ever played or any problem she faced back at Hope's Peak. This was a matter of life and death.  
  
It would be not just the first time that Nanami would have to fight with Just Push Play, but that it'd be the first time she ever fought at all.   
  
 _But if it's for my friends..._ Nanami closed her eyes and remembered what Miss Yukizome had done for her. If it wasn't for her, Nanami would have been like the others. She couldn't waste that sacrifice just sitting on the sidelines!  _Then I have to! I have to save everyone for a tomorrow where we can all play games together again!_  
  
And so began what would be a very long and bizarre journey for Chiaki Nanami, the Stardust Crusaders, and Class 77-B. It would be a tale filled with heroics, villainy, triumph, tragedy, and more. She would not stop until she had freed all of her classmates and teacher from the curse of Despair. She would bring back their happy days once more!  
  
Just after she had a quick nap in the taxi, of course.  
  
A quick nap that devolved into Jotaro having to carry Nanami through customs and into the plane after losing a game of rock, paper, scissors.  
  
She'd prove herself when it mattered! It was just that that point hadn't been reached yet.  
  


\---

  
**Stand Stats**

**Just Push Play  
User: Chiaki Nanami  
Stats**  
Destructive Power E  
Speed B  
Range A  
Durability D  
Precision D  
Developmental Potential C  
  
 **Abilities**  
Stand wields a short staff which serves as a 'Save Point'. This ability functions by the Stand placing the staff against a surface and the ability will activate via the spherical end glowing. The Save Point remains functional no matter how far the user travels from it, but is deactivated when the user wills it, or when it or the surface it had been placed on has been destroyed.  
  
When activated, the user is capable of teleporting themselves and anyone/thing they are touching and whatever the person they have physical contact with are holding to that location. Stand cannot travel further than 10m from the user and must have physical contact with them in order to activate the ability. User and those taken with them will not change position from when they are teleported.


	20. Bonus Features Three

**Bonus Features Three**

* * *

 

**Joseph Disguise Reactions**

Munakata: "For the sake of Hope, please take off those clothes. Not right at this minute!"

 

Sakakura: "For a boxing-bag, you don't look half-bad. Trust me, that's what you're going for right now, if you don't change back."

 

Yukizome: "Mister Joestar, I'm sure you would like support for your...lifestyle choice, but can it wait after this fight?"

 

Tengan: "Hope takes many forms...just not that one."

 

Ruruka: "I will make you a lifetime's supply of sweets if you promise you'll never do this again."

 

Seiko: "Those clothes don't suit you at all! Not without substantial changes to your body structure. I think I have something...it won't even lower your testosterone-levels too-where are you going?"

 

Izayoi: "Thank God Ruruka isn't here to see this."

 

Great Gozu: "Ha! You think this is the first time I've worked with a man dressed like that? You've got a lot to learn about the wrestling business!"

 

Bandai: "The misshapen tree is the first to be cut down."

 

Gekkogahara: "...I think I'm fine with not talking to people anymore."

 

Monaca: "Big Sis Junko could have made that work. You just look like a big, smelly, weirdo!"

 

Nagisa: "Big Si...Junko made me dress up like that. It wasn't 'cute' then, and it's definitely not cute now!"

 

Kotoko: "Eeeewww!!! So not-cute!"

 

Jataro: "I like it...it's so ugly."

 

Masaru: "Oi! Is this some kind of demon's trick?! The hero isn't going to be scared off by something weird as that!"

 

Haji: "I think I'm gonna throw up."

 

Kizakura: "This is why I don't deal with teenagers without a full-flask."

 

Jin: "As an educator and researcher, I shouldn't challenge new ideas or tactics. As your partner, I insist you take off that awful disguise right this minute."

 

Natsumi: "This is why I should have teamed up with Fuyuhiko!"

 

Satou: "Wha-? What is this?!"

 

Matsuda: You idiot. You really thought that'd work? That other dummy would be laughing it up right now.

* * *

**V3 Stands**

** Boy George **

**User: Rantarou Amami**

**Stats**

Destructive Power C

Speed C

Range A

Durability B

Precision C

Developmental Potential B

 

**Abilities**

Stand takes the form of stylish jewellery on various body parts. If user is already wearing such, then the Stand manifests within them and if the jewellery is removed then Stand takes their place.

 

User has the power to add or subtract distance between themselves and chosen areas and/or people. If solid objects are between the two, then the user becomes intangible to them, but this ability does not apply to the affected. This power does, however, apply to injuries on themselves. If the user is injured, they do have the ability to increase the distance between themselves and the wound until the latter hits another object and/or person. Distance can only be made via a straight line.

 

The Stand ability cannot be used on death.

 

** Quest For Fire **

**User: Gonta Gokuhara**

**Stats**

Destructive Power A

Speed B

Range C

Durability A

Precision E

Developmental Potential C

 

**Abilities**

Stand takes the form of a 7ft green cave-man, but one suited like a late 19th Century gentleman.

 

Stand is capable of hardening its skin into a cocoon-like substance and can do the same for those it is touching. It is not impenetrable, but it remains an extremely-hard coating. Stand can shoot out liquid versions of the substance which harden quickly. Stand is also capable of feats of great strength and endurance on its own.

 

** Weird Science **

**User: Miu Iruma**

**Stats**

Destructive Power C

Speed C

Range B

Durability D

Precision D

Developmental Potential A

 

**Abilities**

Stand takes the form of a pinkish goo that shifts form, a spiked-dildo being its favourite shape.

 

User has the power to combine themselves with machinery and other inanimate objects to take on a new form. Stand functions by attaching itself to the user and the object chosen. The user has limited power over what properties and shape they take. The extent of this control relies on whether the user created the object (in which case they have perfect control regardless of how many) and how many times they use this ability (control declines each time they add another).

 

User can use this ability to mix their body with the body of another person, but control relies on a battle of wills and if lost then the target decides the shape or forces the Stand back.

 

** Starman **

**User: Kaito Momota**

**Stats**

Destructive Power C

Speed B

Range C

Durability D

Precision C

Developmental Potential C

 

**Abilities**

Stand takes the form of a humanoid coated in starlight. The Stand wears a large cape and down the right side of its face is a lightning bolt.

 

Stand has the power to increase motivation and ability. Those hit by its light are more likely to get 'second-wind' and clarity of mind. In much a way as a motivational speaker can inspire someone, the Stand emits a light and hum that has a similar effect, which is heavily enhanced if the user adds their own words. However, if the user makes the wrong choice in words, they can actually negate the Stand's effect.

 

Stand can also increase intensity of light, which increases its motivational abilities, but also increases risk of overwhelming the affected's 'motivation', giving them tunnel-vision or alienating them by said intensity. Stand can use its light to blind enemies and increases its hum to damage their hearing, but it is not a combat-oriented Stand and attempts to make it such would prove counter-productive.

 

** Viva La Vida **

**User: Kokichi Ouma**

**Stats**

Destructive Power B

Speed B

Range A

Durability C

Precision B

Developmental Potential: Infinite?

 

**Abilities**

Stand takes the form of a tall man with a striking resemblance to the manga/anime character 'the Kaito Kid'.

 

Stand enables user to create a 'cat-box' which activates when the user tells a lie. The cat-box cannot be broken until the truth is spoken and accepted to and by the affected. This does require the affected to understand what the user is saying. If someone does not understand the user's words, the cat-box is not created. However, if people choose to believe in the lie over the truth, then the cat-box is sustained until those who do so are made to confront the truth.

 

Inside the cat-box, which comprises of the user, those initially affected, and those who hear the lie from the first-affected, all at a 5m range, the lie becomes real. For example, if the user were to convince even one person that they could stop time then they would have that ability until the target- and all others convinced by them- realise the truth.

 

The Stand's ability could go further. If the user were to convince even one person that they still live, when they died, then is it impossible for the Stand to have brought them back to life? If the user was the tree that fell without anyone to hear it, and they still believed it was standing, then would the cat-box sustain them?

 

** Domo Arigato, Mister Roboto **

**User: Kiibo**

**Stats**

Destructive Power A

Speed B

Range A

Durability B

Precision C

Developmental Potential A

 

**Abilities**

Stand manifests within the user and has no actual form beyond that of pure energy. Its activation relies on the user rejecting all identity other than their own i.e. having them and them alone make a decision for themselves.

 

Stand is capable of converting energy from a 10m range into energy for the user. This enables the user, if they were a robot with weapons, to have infinite ammunition and much more powerful firepower.

 

** Vintage Clothes **

**User: Tsumugi Shirogane**

**Stats**

Destructive Power C

Speed C

Range A

Durability A

Precision A

Developmental Potential B

 

**Abilities**

Stand takes the form of thousands of invisible threads that adopt the properties of what the user requires.

 

To activate this ability, the user must know what clothes the target is wearing and have the Stand change itself to resemble those clothes and then wear them. User then 'cosplays' as the target. What this entails is the following; the user adopts the appearance of the target, damage to the user is inflicted upon the target, and the user can control the actions of the target to an extent. In other words, the user turns the target's reality into a 'fiction' they design.

 

Control over the target's actions rely on knowledge of what they are doing and how well the user understands who they are. With enough knowledge and close enough distance, the target is nothing more than a reflection of themselves on a mirror, following the movements of the user.

 

**I'm Still Standing  (Private Investigations Requiem)**

**User: Shuichi Saihara**

**Stats**

Destructive Power D

Speed B

Range E

Durability C

Precision B

Developmental Potential B

 

**Abilities**

Stand takes the appearance of a humanoid wearing a safari hat, white suit and black bow-tie, and its body is coated in multi-coloured make-up that resembles piano-keys. Those who touch the Stand will trigger piano noises and the activation of its ability.

 

User has the power to reduce value to 'one'. This ability activates when an opponent attempts to inflict trauma/injury on the user, Stand, or those who are allies with the user. The latter, however, are forced to also join the user in reducing their value to 'one', albeit temporarily. To be reduced to one is to be reduced to an individual who cannot interact with the physical world with a lingering effect, or in other words, they become 'fiction'.

 

The affected still have their Stands, but the Stands are rendered inoperable in every meaning of the world. However, their value does not become 'zero', but 'one', meaning that they too are immune from the effects of others including ageing, hunger, thirst, and such. They cannot interact with non-affected- whether animate or inanimate- or affected who reject them and vice versa. An enemy is incapable of doing more than simply existing until they no longer wish to do so.

 

For the user and allies, the same rules apply, but they are capable of being killed by physical actions by non-targets i.e. inanimate objects such as falling debris. They can also interact with the non-affected in turn.

 

* * *

**EoH Team-Ups**

JUDE/Enya: "Enya, looks like some trash has gotten on the road ahead.", "Well, then we should cast it aside without mercy!"

Victory: "This feeling up my spine...that's some good despair! I'm going to wring out every last bit I can from you!", "Her power grows and yet it doesn't sate her hunger. This is the way one who changes the world acts!"

 

JUDE/Vanilla Ice: "Vanilla Ice, let's see that Stand of yours really tear into these fuckers.", "As you command."

Victory: "My life for Lady JUDE! My death for Lady JUDE!", "That loyalty of yours...just being reminded of that disappointment brings me despair!"

 

JUDE/N'Doul: "Lady JUDE, you need not concern yourself with them.", "So a blind man's defending his Queen? This oughta be good."

Victory: "It seems I was still in need of evil's saviour.", "Like hell I was going to lose someone who saw the wood from the goddamn trees!"

 

JUDE/Pet Shop: "Pet Shop, tear them to shreds!", "*Caw*"

Victory: "Their faces frozen in agony for all time...someone's getting meat tonight!", "*Caw*"

 

JUDE/DIO: "Seems we're partnering up again!", "Just don't get in my way."

Victory: "Was that supposed to be your best? Looks like the great and powerful DIO needs some back-up, after all.", "Silence! Your infernal commentary was a distraction. Mock me again and you'll understand what a true master of The World can do."

 

JUDE/Jotaro: "JUDE.", "Kujo."

Victory: "Not even turning your back on me once?", "I beat the shit out of you once, I'll do it again, but I'm not taking chances."

 

Martha/Vanilla Ice: "It is an honour to fight alongside Lady JUDE's sister.", "...Just remember that."

Victory: "Lady JUDE should be pleased with our work.", "I agree."

 

DC!IF

 

Jotaro/Nanami: "Oi, I'm not going to slow down if you fall behind.", "I won't. Not when everything's on the line in this boss fight."

Victory: "We did it. We won. But that took a lot of effort out of me...", "Good grief, she's fast asleep."

 

SDC!Joseph/Nanami: "Mister Joestar, I'll back you up.", "Heh, it's been a while since a lady's said that to me."

Victory: "Eh? Did you say something?", "Didn't even notice. Probably for the best, that Tomoko girl was young enough for me."

 

Avdol/Nanami: "Miss Nanami, have you established a Save Point yet?", "It's on the outskirts, just grab on if you think we need it."

Victory: "Ha! You should have more faith in this fortune-teller's power...and yourself.", "I'm not taking any risks. There's no restarts here."

 

Polnareff/Nanami: "Polnareff, let me at least provide support.", "Cherie, I don't dare put you in danger. But if you insist...just remember to have that Save Point ready."

Victory: "I underestimated your Stand, Nanami. That was a close one.", "That's why we have save-points; for players who charge on ahead."

 

Kakyoin/Nanami: "Nanami! I appreciate the help, but is your Stand that suited for combat?", "Then work together with me! Don't just cut me out of the party."

Victory: "You're not the only one trying to reclaim their lives from JUDE.", "Forgive me, Nanami. But try to avoid putting yourself in danger on my account."

 

JUDE/Izuru: "Let's see if the perfect human can catch up with little ol' me.", "The World...I'll finally see it in action."

Victory: "The power to stop time...so this is how far Stands can go.", "Ah, but what's your Stand going to look like? Ha! I can't wait!"

* * *

**VS Dialogue**

JUDE VS Jotaro: "JUDE, how many times have I got to kill you?", "Jotaro Kujo, you are without a doubt the most disappointing thing about coming back to life over and over again."

Jotaro Victory: "Stay down this time."

JUDE Victory: "JoJo, your descendants weren't anything but kidney-stones I had to pass through your dick."

 

JUDE VS BT!Joseph: "Hey, you wouldn't happen to be the bitch who made Granny Erina cry, would you?", "Looks like I get to fight the good version after all."

JUDE Victory: "You may have beaten perfection, but your predictions ain't got shit on me."

BT!Joseph: "That one's for all the crap you've caused."

 

JUDE VS Old!Joseph: "A hundred years you've haunted us and it ends now. For my grandfather, Granny Erina, Old Man Speedwagon, Holly, and all your other victims. You're going down!", "You just listed the names of everyone you'll be apologising to in hell, old man!"

JUDE Victory: "Could Joseph Joestar have stopped me if he just kept up the Ripple? Nope! But his corpse doesn't need to know that. It'll make a good bloodbank though."

Old!Joseph Victory: "Looks like this old man still has his moves."

 

JUDE VS Polnareff: "JUDE, today is the day I reclaim my life.", "You? You think you're going to kill me? Holy shit, this I gotta see."

JUDE Victory: "When you see your sister, you can tell her you never stopped disappointing her. That look! That despair is all I could have ever wanted from you."

Polnareff Victory: "JUDE, you underestimated what a man's determination and sense of justice can do!"

 

JUDE VS Kakyoin: "Kakyoin! Have you come to pledge loyalty again, or is that only if I had my old body back or a baby on my shoulder?", "JUDE, I will not allow you to continue. This is my redemption!"

JUDE Victory: "Kakyoin, your death will be like your life. Alone and with everyone wondering what the hell happened."

Kakyoin Victory: "In the end, your despair came up short. Nrg...But it seemed your strike wasn't as false."

 

JUDE VS Avdol: "Avdol, have you come to join my club?", "No. I have come to cleanse your evil with the fires of Magician's Red!"

JUDE Victory: "Damn, that Stand is scary as fuck. In fact...why waste a perfectly good corpse?"

Avdol Victory: "The World...it's truly a terrifying Stand. Thank goodness we didn't all attack at once. But against the fires of my Stand, even The World burns!"

 

JUDE VS Jonathan: "JoJo! It's been so long! Do you recognise me?!", "Judith! Your body...what have you done to yourself? Nevermind, it's time for you to fall right here and now!"

JUDE Victory: "JoJo, you don't even know the half of what's happened. But now you can taste the despair of dying to your very own body!"

Jonathan Victory: "I drove her off. But when we fought, it was like I felt familiarity."

 

JUDE VS DIO: "Same body, same strength, same Stand, looks like it's all down to smarts! Too bad that you've got nothing on me there, Brando!", "The yelping of some gutter-bitch is meant to intimidate me? I, DIO, will do anything to win! That determination will crush your analysis any day!"

JUDE Victory: "Is this DIO? Was that all?! Everything you did was predictable! Ah, just seeing your face when you were outmatched at every turn! Despair, DIO! Despair today! Despair tomorrow! Despair for all eternity!"

DIO Victory: "You're nothing more than a cheap imitation! Your plans were nothing compared with my will to triumph! You think you could have beaten DIO to Heaven? Useless! Useless! Useless!"

 

Jotaro VS Martha: "JUDE's sister? Give me a break. I need to put her in the ground too?", "What do you...No...Judith! I kill you, you fucking piece of shit!"

Jotaro Victory: "She doesn't have Stand, but that kind of ferocity. Gramps was right, the Ripple can be dangerous."

Martha Victory: "Die! Die! Die!"

 

Jotaro VS Judith: "So this is JUDE's old self. Tch, just as shrill-voiced and screwed-up as always.", "So you're the stick in the mud she warned me about. Be careful. I got a few tricks up my sleeves too."

Jotaro Victory: "Damnit. How does this bitch keep pulling out new crap to deal with?"

Judith Victory: "I killed him and my older- so-called stronger- other self couldn't? I can feel the despair rippling through the years!"

 

Jotaro VS Junko: "Now I gotta fight this one who uses a robot suit?", "You might have shown up my ugly, vampire self, but you've got nothing compared to the original!"

Jotaro Victory: "A dangerously sharp mind and minions giving everything they've got to her. Some things never change, I guess."

Junko Victory: "Power and speed above anyone else and the power to stop time. Imagine fucking up so hard that you still lost. Wallow in the despair of death!"

 

DC!IF

 

JUDE VS Nanami: "Is that baby Chiaki Nanami? Aw, she thinks she can fight me?", "Let my friends go! Even if it's just me alone, I'll still stop you!"

JUDE Victory: "Your classmates told me all about you. How about the Class Rep listens to her new teacher and deal with some nuisances for me?"

Nanami Victory: "Everyone...I did it. There's still time to help them!"

 

JUDE VS Izuru: "JUDE, I've grown tired of your games.", "You've unlocked a Stand?! Oh this is going to be good!"

JUDE Victory: "Poor Kamukura. Or should I say, Hinata. You thought I didn't notice? Even when you recovered your memories, now you die again."

Izuru Victory: "I did it. I stopped her before she could kill anyone else."

 

Nanami VS Izuru: "Hinata! I don't know what they did to you, but you have to remember!", "Hajime Hinata is gone. There is only boredom."

Nanami Victory: "Even though I should have never won that fight...you must be in there, Hinata!"

Izuru Victory: "..."

* * *

**Dual Heart Attacks**

DC!IF

 

Jotaro/Nanami: Star Platinum is about to punch the opponent out, when they prepare a trap they set for this very moment. Nanami spots this and uses Just Press Play set a Save Point and brings Jotaro there. Star Platinum punches them out from behind.

 

Kakyoin/Nanami: Kakyoin has Hierophant Green set up its trap for a 20m Emerald Splash, only for the opponent to escape the trap and go straight for Nanami. Just as they make contact, Nanami sends them to the Save Point right in the middle of Kakyoin's trap. Nanami goes through the escape route which Kakyoin closes during the opponent's confusion and the Emerald Splash is fired.

 

Old!Joseph/Nanami: The opponent finds Nanami and tries to take her down, even destroying her Save Point. Just as they have her cornered, Joseph pulls on Hermit Purple and the opponent realises that their route led them to allow Joseph to coil it around their body. They're pulled away from Nanami and towards a hard right hook, powered by Ripple and Hermit Purple, from Joseph.

 

Avdol/Nanami: The opponent tries to ambush Avdol, but he teleports away to a Save Point. He spots the opponent and unleashes Magician Red's fires on them

 


	21. Here Comes The Sun

**Arc Four: Despair Ocean**

**Chapter Fifteen: Here Comes The Sun**

  
****

\---

  
To Judith Eydris, all men and women bar those closest to her heart were either 'tools' or 'foods'.  
  
She would devour her food and use her tools for her own means. Whether that meant they were tools to entertain her with their despair, to enact her will, or to simply provide her with earthly pleasures, they served their purpose. After such a purpose, they would be discarded.  
  
Nothing mattered to her other than to feel despair and thus create a world without restriction or predictability.  
  
And yet a woman with the name Shiobana somehow lived to speak of her time with the vampire JUDE and even bear a child with her. The biological means do not need to be investigated for it is already known how. What matters is that she returned to Japan with a child inside her.  
  
When this was discovered, her parents were only kept from cutting her off fully by a single hope. That hope laid in the child she would call Haruno Shiobana. The child who she would look upon and hopefully feel the burden of maternal responsibility. She would look at him and become a better person.  
  
It was a vain hope.  
  
JUDE courted this woman for two reasons; her beauty and her personality. A desire to simply live a life of freedom and pleasure that was strong enough for her to disregard even her child. Her months of pregnancy were spent resenting her inability to drink, smoke, or party under the domineering eyes of her parents and society.  
  
Her only hope was that her child would have hers and JUDE's beauty combined.  
  
It was not a vain hope. He even had the exotic strawberry-blonde hair of his father rather than his maternal side's boring old black.  
  
Yet even that beauty did not stop her from enjoying the nightlife whilst her son was left at home in his crib without his mother to look after him. His grandparents, giving up, simply prayed that he would attain salvation elsewhere. With such weak wills and a lack of desire to care for him, Haruno was left alone.  
  
He would wake up at night and find himself in darkness. He had no mother to protect him. Imagine the despair and horror for such a young child; potent enough that he was scared stiff and incapable of even crying as he knew it was useless to do so.  
  
His only friend at the time was a single stuffed bear that his mother called Monokuma. It was the only gift his father had ever given him. The father he never knew. One half was a normal white-coloured teddy bear that Haruno would have loved deeply without fault. It may have even been his friend.  
  
So desperate for company, he even embraced its darker half. The smirk on its face, the jagged horizontal stripe for an eye, and the very sinister nature of it. Most children would only accept it for the white bear, but Haruno accepted even this. For this bear was a gift created by his father for him and him alone.  
  
He was sure of it.  
  
In time, the loss of financial support would drive his mother to search for a man who would support her lifestyle and also accept her child into their home.  
  
Perhaps this was the bond between mother and son. That is the view of a kind man. A cynical man would think that abandoning her child would risk permanently losing her parents as a source of revenue in the future. That same man could also say that she simply wished for comfort both materially and psychologically.  
  
Either way, she did find a man eventually.  
  
When Haruno Shiobana turned four, his mother married to an Italian and both of them moved to Italy, becoming Italians themselves.  
  
Haruno Shiobana became Giorno Giovanna.  
  


\---

In a kinder story, Giorno would have lived a normal life with his new stepfather and his mother would finally give him the attention he needed.  
  
This is not a kinder story.  
  
His stepfather was a man who beat his four-year-old stepson with a belt. A man far stronger than such a child used his belt as if he were beating away a lion or dangerous animal. This is the kind of coward Giorno's mother married; who not only felt powerful when beating a child, but used a weapon on the already-defenceless.  
  
Giorno's mother was often out partying during these moments. Naples was a livelier place for a woman like her and she was free of the stares of friends and family. If she knew of the extent of the abuse on her son, she may have given a light scolding, but did nothing more.  
  
Giorno initially forgave his mother. He was coming into one of the talents his father bestowed upon him. The power to analyse his surroundings and those around him to a level no other human could reach. Mathematics and science questions were easy for him. He could look on someone and know if they were to do harm to him.  
  
A man who beat him for trying to anticipate when he'd be beaten was not logical. Surely, his stepfather would beat his mother if she stood up for him! That had to be the case.  
  
And yet, while all of Giorno's other toys were fair-game to smash, his step-father never once touched Monokuma. In fact, his mother took care of it religiously. She kept it in good condition and always made sure it was close to Giorno.  
  
(It was not sentimentality for a lost lover, beyond the physical attribute. Giorno's mother merely had come to the retrospective realisation that when JUDE would sometimes drink her wine, it had a scent resembling copper, and that what JUDE called 'rare-cooked pork' was much bloodier than any pork she had ever cooked. And that no one had ever survived a head transplant like the one JUDE had. She had come to the conclusion that any harm to the bear would mean harm to her and whoever damaged it.)  
  
Giorno realised that his mother would only give ineffectual protests at best for him one night. His step-father had been in a drunken rage and had noticed that Giorno had accidentally dropped Monokuma in the living-room. He went to tear the bear in half.  
  
He would never forget how loudly his mother screamed in anger and fear. The hushed whispers between the couple even reached his ears. After that, the bear was placed by his side by his mother with all the care in the world.  
  
The next day she went out to party and Giorno got an extra-hard session with the belt.  
  
His heart began to fall into despair when realising that his mother's apathy for him would never end. All she care for is that he looked pretty as some kind of monument to her youthful adventures.  
  
The other children in town would bully him for his quiet and contemplative nature. Giorno would read their faces and know that they had ill-intent for him. He would read them and know where they would hit him. And yet his body was too small and too slow to avoid it.  
  
He was the target of every bully in town.  
  
A part of him believed that he was the scum of the earth. That he deserved these beatings.  
  
Monokuma said otherwise.  
  
To any outside observer, it was simply a child talking to his toy and giving it his darkest thoughts. The hatred and despair he felt in his heart could be safely expressed in his room by whispering it from Monokuma's mouth. After all, was that not what a toy was for? To be what a child needed it to be.  
  
But to Giorno, Monokuma offered a light in the darkness. His only friend would speak of how the dark feelings in his heart were just him trying to fit his specialness into a predetermined harmony that rejected him. That the problem was not that he was bad, but that he was trying to be good.  
  
Did a bear try to read the salmon and avoid a fight? No. A bear read the salmon and used it to eat!  
  
His father had the same kind of hair as him that all the other children called feminine. In fact, it was in the style of a woman! His father's face was more like a woman's than his own and yet he was a man who charmed the mother who cared nothing for Giorno. His father was the strongest man in the world and had the face of the most beautiful woman in the world.  
  
Why? Because that was the power of Despair.  
  
Giorno simply had to cast off the roles of society and simply embrace the chaos and pain. He had to learn to love pain. Was it not boring to predict every beating and bullying perfectly right? Wasn't it boring to read through questions and books and understand them completely halfway through.  
  
In this world, you were either the bear or the predator, right? So why not enjoy the pain you receive, but also come to learn how to inflict it upon others! Those bullies must have a weakness! Giorno's step-father was not a man of stone! Why, all he had to do was learn to abandon his hope and embrace despair.  
  
After all, you couldn't be hurt by despair if you became despair.  
  
It was a child's logic in a cruel world. Whereas JUDE was tormented mainly by her inability to forget her understanding of gravity and fate, Giorno was tormented by a world where he could understand everything and yet it changed nothing. He was powerless and could do nothing.  
  
But if he embraced the despair that was his life, then would he not then learn how to improve it? If he was the scum of the earth according to everyone's Hope, then if he reversed it all and created a world of Despair, then he would be God! And all these cruel and mean people who caused or ignored his suffering would be scum instead!  
  
If Monokuma, the only one who would hold him and sincerely love him, told him it was so, then surely it was right? Otherwise, Giorno had no purpose to exist. Giorno might as well just die and make everyone that much happier and filled with Hope.  
  
Giorno Giovanna seemed fated to become as twisted and maniacal as his father had been.  
  
And yet, a chance incident would save Giorno from being such a man.  
  
As Giorno was walking home on his usual route, almost dulled to the abuses he suffered and the pain in his heart, he found an injured man bleeding on the ground. This man was only kept safe by the shadow of the stone wall he hide behind.  
  
Alive or dead? This question would have vexed any child his age. Not Giorno. He had inherited his father's eyes in both colour and ability. The way they would shake and roll when he did this was another source of bullying, but now it helped him see that the man was alive, if near-death from the bullet-wound in his stomach.  
  
As he realised this, a group of men came running towards him, shouting out to each other to find a certain man. It was obviously the man before Giorno's eyes.  
  
They towered over him just as his step-father would when beating him. They asked him politely, for they presumed he was a normal child intimidated by their size alone, if he had seen a man bleeding from his chest.  
  
Giorno heard the voice of Monokuma whisper to him to feign confusion. To act like he hadn't even seen him. They would believe that a child of his age was telling the truth from fear alone. They wouldn't question it and be on their way. He could see the gratitude and hope in that wounded man's eyes rather than resignation to his fate.  
  
Then he could point the man out to the group.  
  
That hope would crumble and the injured man would realise that he had simply been a game for Giorno. He was merely raised up so he would hit the ground harder. Giorno would go from passively dooming him to being the true culprit behind his death. In dying, he would despair.  
  
And Giorno could feed off that despair! He could feel good about crushing another person's hope! His mother once told him that his father did as he wished and shined brighter for it! Why shouldn't Giorno himself be such a man?  
  
And yet, Giorno lied and never revealed the truth.   
  
He pointed them away from the wounded man. He showed no fear when doing so, neither of the wounded man nor of the group chasing him. The voice of Monokuma was silent and the men who questioned him gradually became silent themselves as they ran out of range of his hearing.  
  
The wounded man had reminded Giorno of himself; lonely and melancholic. He did not want to see someone like himself suffer.  
  
Unconsciously, this would be the first time he ever used Gold Experience. The grass around the wounded man grew to cover his whole body and meant that, even when the men questioning Giorno stood where he did, they could not see him.   
  
Giorno never told anyone about this story. Who would believe him even if he wanted to?  
  
The man stood up after this and approached Giorno. He told Giorno that he would never forget what he had done for him. He knew that he owed his life to him. Why had he been shot? He never explained that to Giorno.  
  
And that was the end of that.  
  


\---

But it was not.  
  
After that day, Giorno's life took an unexpected turn that he would have never thought possible at the time.  
  
Some time after, Giorno's step-father stopped beating him, the town-children began giving up seats in the movie-theatre for Giorno, and even his mother took a few days to spend time with her son. All three of these events happened at the same time.  
  
Giorno had once thought that this was impossible. Monokuma himself had said that there was no chance of them ever accepting him. They lived a life built on hierarchy and Giorno was on the bottom, right? No one cared for him and so he could care for no one. That maybe it was time to embrace despair.  
  
It was an outside factor that saved Giorno.  
  
The man he saved had been a gangster. He did not directly make threats or commands to those who made Giorno's life despair, but merely made his presence known to them and that was enough. It was easy to torment a lonely child; it was harder when he had a friend, especially one like the gangster.  
  
He watched Giorno from afar and yet understood that his child, who had always tried to see how others thought of him and was pained by the answer, as an individual to be respected.  
  
And so Giorno learned the importance of trusting people, something his parents should have taught him, and that this world was not merely a solid hierarchy or that he was a slave to the decisions of others. All from the silence of a complete stranger.  
  
It can be bizarre how a gangster, associated with lawlessness and abusing the weak, became responsible for saving Giorno from the temptations within his soul. Giorno's heart became strengthened that day.  
  
He was no longer a child analysing people to find a reason to avoid their wrath. He no longer seemed so weak and desperate and nor he did rely on the comforts of a stuffed bear through which he could voice offensive thoughts. He now had a calm breeze blow within his heart.  
  
This was Hope. This was the result of the unpredictable and random kindness of strangers. It brought confidence and direction to a child so close to celebrating his own misery and using it to bring suffering to others to alleviate his own and to turn his pain into pleasure.  
  
The man had always taken a strict position that Giorno should not involve himself in the world of crime. It was a fool's errand.  
  
Giorno lived in a world where even a child could understand the world perfectly. The politicians were corrupt, the police refused to help the weak, and the society itself was built upon a false hope corrupted by the greedy.  
  
He had voices in his head that advised him to commit acts of evil and despair. It'd be his way of punishing the strong and avenging his earlier miserable childhood.   
  
Yet Giorno's resolution could not be broken. He had a new goal in life, just as most children dreamt of being Series A stars in football, Giorno Giovanna dreamt of being a different kind of star.  
  
He would become a Gang-Star!  
  


\---

 

"You certainly enjoy your sweets, don't you, Giorno?" Bucciarati smirked as he moved his gaze upwards. "I suppose it goes with the pink hair."  
  
"My mother would have a heart-attack if she heard that. She tells everyone that it's strawberry-blonde." Giorno replied.  
  
"And you?" Bucciarati raised an eyebrow. Giorno shrugged.  
  
"My hair seems to mix red and white differently to most with that hair colour. If people want to call it pink, they can call it pink." He said. He had spent too long trying to correct people to have wasted further time on it.  
  
It wasn't like it'd stop the others from saying it was pink either. Even after Trish had come to them as a perfect example of what pink hair looked like, they insisted that his lighter version of strawberry-blonde was pink. Giorno however suspected that Abbacchio knew and simply didn't care, unlike Narancia, Fugo, and Mista.  
  
Not like it mattered.  
  
Giorno himself was enjoying his chocolate cake. He had his father's sweet-tooth, according to his mother, and he could believe that. Every bite burst with warmth and sugary joy as the richness of the chocolate was easily balanced out by the cream given on the side. Each spoonful Giorno tried to get as much of both as possible and it was a testament to his finesse that neither showed on his mouth.  
  
It clashed with the image he wanted to present of a silent gangster under Bucciarati. Those in the criminal world were not meant to show such 'childish' tastes. Giorno, on the other hand, felt that only the weak would put so much effort into such an overbloated image of themselves that they'd even make what others enjoyed eating their issue.  
  
Not like Bucciarati. Along with Bucciarati being his boss, it had been why Giorno accepted the offer for the two of them to dine alone in this restaurant. It was a good way to rest after the recent battles they had with the Stand-users of Passione who were chasing them down. It was also a way to get to know each other better.  
  
In fact, it was clear that Bucciarati brought Giorno here to ask him questions about himself.   
  
"Giorno, I was wondering if you ever noticed it." He said.   
  
"You mean how I mention the words Hope and Despair frequently." Giorno was relieved that his cake-slice was almost finished. This would be a long talk.  
  
Bucciarati laughed at his words so that was a good sign. "It seems you guessed it right again. You know, Abacchio still thinks you cheated that game of poker."  
  
Giorno had joined in after being asked and then was never asked again. His eyes had helped him read even the best poker-faces, with every soft twitch and facial motion that told him if it was a good or bad hand, even as he tried to hold it back. Repressing his talent was hard work but worth it to have fun in these games.  
  
He admittedly needed to work harder.  
  
"Narancia thinks he can get away with having me write answers for him. As if Fugo won't notice." Giorno said to which Bucciarati sighed.  
  
"I'll give him points for trying. He can notice when someone's can copy handwriting and still can't figure out multiplication." He didn't bother laughing this time. He just narrowed his eyes. "But you didn't answer my question. You use them often. When fighting our enemies, you say that you will correct the balance and eliminate their despair and then kill them. You say you will cut down their hope and yet the result if the same. You also have the shadow of a smile when they panic. Also, you pronounce those two words differently, as if capitalising them on a typewriter."  
  
Giorno knew he had to explain himself. It wasn't anything threatening in Bucciarati's eyes but he obviously wanted the answer to a question that was bothering him. He'd have to think of a good answer. If he went in too hard, there was a chance that Bucciarati would think he was detracting from the topic.  
  
"You can say it however you wish. I wouldn't ask something like this for a dressed-up answer and I trust you not to lie to me." Bucciarati said. Giorno couldn't see any trace of a lie in his words.  
  
"If that's what you want," Giorno said. He then began to open up about his beliefs. "My father used to use those words in the same way. Apparently they meant something to him and they mean something to me."  
  
"Outside of the literal term?"  
  
"Yes. My mother used to say that my father was fun, eccentric, but prone to fits of boredom and so would act childishly, in her mind. That, or he would get overly analytical with those two words." Giorno looked away and his eyes revealed a bit more than he liked. "I think she just found a way to ignore my father's insights beyond how to entertain her for the night."  
  
"And what were your father's findings?" Bucciarati asked. Giorno looked his leader in the eye. He'd just have to trust that Bucciarati would listen.  
  
"That Despair is good."   
  
Bucciarati remained silent for a moment. "...The absence of hope is good?" He asked, understandably confused.  
  
"What is hope? Dictionaries say that it is the expectation and desire of particular things. For some, it is those expectations and desires that give meaning to their survival. But how do we come to those desires?" Giorno asked rhetorically. "When we are raised as children, we are imparted values and experiences, some positive and some negative, that we carry with us."  
  
"For example, a child that is bitten by a wild dog at a young age will have a fear of them. Or a child growing up with a family pet will come to love dogs." Bucciarati asked to which Giorno nodded.  
  
"And what about our own choices? We aren't just blank slates when born but come with desires and expectations of our own. We have our parents' genetics but are not their clones." Giorno definitely attested to that in the case of his mother. "Our individual personalities and our upbringing come together to shape us. We are born wanting and expecting to receive what we want. How we carry ourselves depends on how much we get."  
  
"It almost sounds like you're saying we are just dependent on our desires and the extent we receive them." Bucciarati pointed out with no small amount of offence. It was not directed at Giorno personally, but at the idea itself.  
  
"Hope is a predetermined harmony. We are happy when we receive those desires but can be sustained by just the thought of having them. Even when we don't get them, we can be shaped by that Hope into bitterness." Giorno's voice took on a more bitter edge than he meant it to. Memories of intense boredom were getting to him. "Hope is not innately good. Those chasing us have Hope. Does that make them good? In turn, if you could perceive how someone was raised and how they carry themselves with a single glance, you can predict their actions based on that Hope and the extent they've attained it."  
  
Giorno had such a talent. His eyes could always perceive what most people planned to do because most people had simple upbringing and values. It had been a useful tool for Bucciarati and the gang as they roamed across Italy. It did have its personal downsides, however. Downsides that Giorno had no idea how his father dealt with.  
  
"Hope is order and peace working in that predetermined harmony," Giorno raised one hand to emphasise this and then raised the other for his next point. "Despair, however, is the opposite. Say if if a human was born right this moment. How many ways could you say that they could be a stable person who is good and kind?"  
  
"Too many to count." Bucciarati said.  
  
"Wrong. You can count it. It's just hard unless you were a computer." Giorno's gaze intensified. "But still able to count it. Now count the ways that this human could be flawed? They could be evil or simply too broken to recognise right and wrong."  
  
Bucciarati was quiet now. He was lost in his thoughts and starting to try and find out the ways that something could be wrong. There was always more than one way to be right, but there was never a way to not be wrong. That was what Giorno, and he imagined his father, had discovered.  
  
"Too many to count."  
  
"Right." Giorno nodded. "Despair is chaos and pain but can be liberating. The search for Hope can be relentless and actually damaging to someone if they are deluded about it. They could be working to bring Hope to others at their own cost. Their sacrifices may be too much to bare," Giorno leaned in against his seat. "Or they find that the Hope they or others are searching for is hollow."  
  
"And Despair fixes this how?" Bucciarati asked, getting to the heart of the matter.  
  
"By being unpredictable. You are freed from the burden of expectations. The absence of desire means the absence of pain at failing to get it. You cut yourself from ties like friends and family that risk pain and live only for yourself in the moment. There is no disappointment and pain is welcomed as change." Giorno said. His eyes flashed and he got slightly more excited. "For one who could predict anyone's Hope, surely that would be painful once you realised the absence of surprise. You can change nothing by stability. Despair in such a way is good."  
  
Bucciarati saw through this and recognised the hidden meaning in Giorno's explanation. "You've considered being the kind of man who spreads despair? You certainly sound like it, if not. You seem to be saying that Hope merely creates stagnation and Despair is the only source of freedom."  
  
"My mother never told me more about my father. She said I wouldn't understand. I wish I could have asked my father about the revelations he discovered and if I am the same," Giorno smirked and pointed to Bucciarati. "Because you got that wrong."  
  
That managed to get him smiling. Giorno knew that he had been proud to know that such a despicable ideology was not what one of his subordinates and friends believed. That there was something deeper inside him that drove him forward.  
  
Honestly, if Giorno had been that kind of man or Bucciarati believed he was that kind, they wouldn't have been so close.  
  
"Sometimes being in despair can inspire people. They take that suffering and share it with others. Other times, it bring perspective and people mature and develop new Hope." Giorno narrowed his eyes and his voice hardened. "And sometimes those in despair are predictable in how pitiful they are. They act out to watch things burn and resist the long-term. They just go and cause suffering. It's innately hollow.  
  
"Hope can be unpredictable. Misers and those who hoard wealth can sometimes act charitably in a crisis. A man soaked in the blood of the innocent may cease and instead fight for the downtrodden. Someone can have a revelation and change their ways," He looked at Bucciarati carefully. "A gangster can be a good man."  
  
"So it's complicated?" Bucciarati was less asking and more confirming at this point.  
  
"When I say I will eliminate their Despair, I mean that I will destroy the suffering they bring to others. When I say I will cut down their Hope, I mean I will end their ambitions and goals that are sickening." Giorno looked up to the clear blue skies. "Hope without Despair is just empty platitudes and so simple it's dull. Despair without Hope is nothing. It's just mindless self-destruction and an endless search for greater capacity to harm."  
  
"Giorno Giovanna, did you get all that from your father's thoughts, or is this just your own beliefs?" Bucciarati was teasing now. He had what he wanted. Giorno merely shrugged again.  
  
"I think this world is governed by the clash between Hope and Despair, but that we as humans are not bound to a single side, nor should we be. I don't know what conclusion my father came to. Perhaps he discovered a different answer." Giorno's voice now held the resolution he never would have had as a child. "I will destroy the enemy we face that causes so much Despair and I, as a Gang-Star, want to give people the Hope I felt and give them the potential to break from stagnation."  
  
Bucciarati shook his head at that with a gentle smile. Giorno might have suspect he was laughing under his breathe if he didn't know him so well. He knew by now that Bucciarati wouldn't laugh at something like this when Giorno was so serious about it.  
  
Also, his facial muscles were twitching the right way for laughter.  
  
"You certainly have lofty dreams and complex philosophical thoughts. I probably should have expected that from such topics like this." Bucciarati said, before raising an eyebrow. "This is probably the most I've heard you talk, however."  
  
"I'm not a man who seeks out the centre of the stage for its own sake," Giorno admitted. He recalled a certain treasured friend from his pitiful childhood. "My father left me with a single gift to my mother to remember him by. That and a picture she showed me once. He had the body of the strongest man in the world and a face as pretty as the most beautiful woman in the world. The only thing I had to remember him as a bear called Monokuma."  
  
"Sounds like the word 'monochrome'. Intentional?"  
  
"I presume so," Giorno would never know for sure what his father was thinking. He could only presume even with his talent. "The bear was there in my darkest moments. He'd whisper to me about how I shouldn't take anything from anyone unless I wanted it. That, if I was in charge, I'd make everyone pay. I'd reverse the boring, predictable, and mechanic ways of my world and stand on top of it all. I'd be the one in charge."  
  
Bucciarati signalled to the waitress that they would like to pay for their bill and then looked back at Giorno. "And? What happened to this magical talking bear that wanted you to become despair?"  
  
Giorno remembered the teddy-bear of his childhood. He remembered what it would tell him when he felt alone and hurt. When he wondered why the world could be so hurtful and yet so predictable. It had been a comfort, but in the same way that drugs were a comfort.  
  
A poison too sweet to be forgettable.  
  
The voice of Monokuma was still with him. It whispered in one ear for him to sell out Bucciarati and the rest of the gang for his own purposes. He could rise up and plan his ascension to the leadership of Passione on his own. He could be the master of the drug trade, if he put his mind to it!  
  
He ignored it the same as he ignored the voice was urged mercy to those chasing after them. The idea that he had an obligation to show them a better way. The idea that he could, and should be, a beacon of Hope.  
  
Giorno looked up at the sky. That clear, blue, and seemingly infinite sky.  
  
His father apparently loved the ocean. He would have his villas next to running rivers and simply listen to the waves as he slept without covers. Maybe he wished to live under the sea. Or perhaps he even came from the sea, in this world of Stands and other bizarre things. Giorno used to dream that his father would whisk him away to such a place.  
  
But he preferred the sky. The ocean was deep and dark and mysterious. You could perhaps never understand the ocean until you sank to its deepest depths and became accustomed to the pressures and darkness. Maybe it was a place that his father admired for one who could predict most anything; the idea of seeing what laid in the depths of the world.  
  
The skies were different. They were clear and they were truly infinite. At the end of the day, there was a point where you would reach the bottom of the sea. There was a point where you could only go so far down. Not like the skies; where you could continue going up until reaching space and then go even higher! You could embrace the darkness of space that was so hard to comprehend and yet also be guided by the strange lights of the cosmos.  
  
In the bottom of the sea, no one could recognise you. In the skies, everyone wished to follow you.  
  
Giorno Giovanna wished to be the man who struck his own path and put his faith in the infinite possibilities beyond just relying on Hope or Despair. There was no room for Monokuma with such an ideal.  
  
And so, Giorno replied to Bruno Bucciarati's question on what he did with his temptations to become Despair and spoke honestly.  
  
"I put away such childish things when I grew up."


	22. Revolution No. 9

**Arc Four: Despair Ocean**

**Chapter Fifteen: Revolution No. 9**

 

\---

  
Giorno Giovanna was not the only son of Judith Eydris.  
  
He was the one who carried her most admirable traits, few as they were, along with a few of her darker aspects. He was, however, able to overcome them thanks to the intervention of a stranger giving him the Hope that strengthened his resolve. He was able to resist the Despair that followed him and become his own man.  
  
He was blessed in a way his brothers were not.  
  
JUDE did not constrict herself to a single lover. For much of her teenage years, she had a bond with Martha Cutler that resembled that of a master and a servant, two lovers, two sisters, and even friendship. Although it was by no means healthy, even if it hadn't been incest, it was a love that Jude sincerely held and Martha's death at her hands brought a despair that only death could match.  
  
Shiobana was one of four women whose children by JUDE went on to shape the world itself. These four women with corrupt souls would prove to be poor mothers who silently resented their children at best and openly despised them at worst. These burdens on their lives that forced them to end their dreams and marry lesser men.  
  
The Monokumas they were given were perhaps mocking tributes from the mysterious person who enchanted them and then impregnated them. They did not care do anything to them, however, for they too soon realised that they were lucky to be tools instead of food. They did not wish to press that luck.  
  
This is the brief tale of those three sons who inherited aspects of JUDE but not all. They attained chunks of her being that enabled her to survive and fight as long as she did. They were the sons who were cursed to be haunted by Despair and not overcome it.  
  
These were the remnants of JUDE's legacy.  
  
These were the Remnants of Despair.  
  


\---

Ungalo lived in Despair.  
  
He was not a smart child. He was not an active child. He was certainly not a rich child.  
  
His mother had modest upbringings that became poor when her parents discovered that their sixteen-year-old daughter had become pregnant with a stranger in Cairo during a class-trip. This also came along with news that she and some other girls had tormented another classmate on this trip and that she had been expelled from school for such behaviour.   
  
One could not neglect a suicide attempt. Not when the victim's parents could afford a lawyer, at least.  
  
She did not care. She imagined that when she contacted her lover, he would provide for her and give her all the comforts she needed. Just as she thought he promised.   
  
Ungalo would never know this. His mother did not care to repeat being told that she had been a one-night-stand.  
  
Instead, they both lived a deadbeat life the likes of which you would see in the speeches of politicians decrying generous welfare measures. It was not that Ungalo's mother didn't try to work, it was simply that Ungalo's mother's idea of hard work was one that only function in certain types of jobs, and only one paid decently well.  
  
Ungalo could remember the despair of being taunted at school for his mother selling her own body.  
  
He had inherited little from JUDE that might have made him useful. He did not have her analysis, her ability to simply ignore all others and live in supreme confidence, and especially not her beauty. He lacked her strawberry-blonde hair.  
  
He did, however, inherit not only her despair, but also her defiance of authority and others. That inability to extend compassion that did not have strings attached or requiring long contact. He attracted attention to himself for his tendency to get into fights and insulting fellow students and teachers alike.  
  
Detentions, juvenile halls, and even prison failed to make him break this streak. He simply continued to spit upon the law and respond to insults with physical force. A stream of broken-teeth and bruised bodies led their way to Ungalo being practically exiled to decent society.  
  
Not even indecent society welcomed him happily. Ungalo had also inherited JUDE's pride and saw himself as the victim of others. How dare they treat him so lowly when it was his mother who was the prostitute! How dare they act like he was the villain when his peers started it! How could they even dream of leaving him on the curb as if he wasn't a victim!  
  
Self-pity fuelled him as he continued his spiral into deeper despair and crime. He began to take up drugs as a relief from his life and would even purchase the use of prostitutes to sate his lust. Until he got into a fight with one and was stabbed. Then it became harder for him to find that sort of relief.  
  
Ungalo became one of those stories about how children in poor backgrounds and with poor parenting became those who went in and out of jail cells. His only saving grace was that no organised body would accept him as more than a customer. Petty thievery and mugging was a crime, but a minor one compared to the scales he was capable of.  
  
His only possession was Monokuma. Ungalo hated that damn name and didn't even care for it that much. His mother had been the one to insist it remain immaculate and clean. It had its uses for him; mainly to store drugs but was otherwise forgotten in his one-room apartment.  
  
Ungalo was the weakest Remnant of Despair who inherited JUDE's complete submersion in despair.  
  


\---

Rikiel was followed by Despair.  
  
But not always! There had once been a time where he had been a normal boy in a normal school-life! It was true!  
  
His mother had a chaotic life and had made decisions she regretted as a child. And yet, when she approached her parents and tearfully confessed that she had a child, they chose to accept her and her son. They told her she could rely on them and that they'd be hypocrites to condemn her when she had summoned a courage she never had before. When she showed an empathy they had almost given up on her having.  
  
(There was also the fact that having a daughter kicked out of their home, especially when she started showing, would have made the neighbours ask questions.)  
  
When Rikiel was born, his mother found the strength to leave her childish self who only cared for tomorrow and picked a fight whenever she could. From now on, she would live with hope, and look only to the future! Her parents agreed that this was a mature decision and helped her find a job and even babysit her son.   
  
What kind and loving parents they were. Everyone agreed on that.  
  
She never married, but she did have a long-term boyfriend when Rikiel was nine who accepted him as a child of his lover. They played baseball together and the man took pride in Rikiel's achievements as if he was his son. He even stood up for him at one moment in school when Rikiel was teased for his pink (technically strawberry-blonde) and black hair.  
  
What a good man. Let's hope they get engaged at least. Everyone agreed on that.  
  
Rikiel himself had inherited some of his mother's eccentricities. He was a child who could flip from the deepest bouts of depression to a joyful mood within a second. He could be petulantly furious and then be the bigger man in an argument. It was a handful, but he did not come from a place of evil.  
  
It also meant that he had a fascination with Japanese animation shows, also known as anime. He loved the plots and characters as much as any western animated show and collected the merchandise. He even managed to collect subtitled versions of his favourite animes like Pokemon and Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon and so on.   
  
That last one was interpreted by the more traditional members of his family as being due to the incredibly short skirts. Most everyone agreed on that.  
  
He would also be fascinated with the teddy-bear left to him by his father. His mother had been cautious about keeping it, but recalled what JUDE was like and feared retribution if something happened to it. Besides, he quickly evolved it into a more conventional means for a boy his age.  
  
It's a strange world where drawing schematics of a battle suit based on a teddy-bear is less strange than simply admiring it.   
  
Rikiel, for all intents and purposes, lived a life that was quite normal and acceptable.  
  
And then it happened.  
  
He was sixteen years old and he was sitting his end-of-year school exams. He was not expected to do exceptionally well but enough that he could have a respectable result. He could go to a decent college if he kept it up and even enjoy a good job. It was nothing more than average but that was surely enough.  
  
Despair, however, followed JUDE's sons just as it followed her when Rikiel's left eyelid dropped over his eye.   
  
He was confused. Why was this happening? Why was it not staying up when he pulled it up? Why did one of his eyelashes start irritating that same eye? And now the right eyelid was doing the same? What the hell? Why was this happening? He was doing good in the exam? And now he couldn't see and he was being loud and-  
  
Rikiel found it hard to breathe and started making a scene. He was not failed as it seemed medical, but all those around him saw his suffering and did their best to ignore it. They pitied him for sure, but chose to use it to justify ignoring him. They were not looking away from a man in need but instead saving his pride.  
  
And so began Rikiel's decline into despair.  
  
The doctors insisted there was nothing wrong when clearly there was. Rumours spread around his school and people would talk about it and soon Rikiel began sweating so frequently that it became hard to breathe and yet again he'd be taken out. He was caught in a vicious cycle.  
  
Someone may have pointed out that these were the results of panic attacks brought on by anxiety.  
  
But that would be a sign of a mental illness and that would bring despair. Rikiel's family, who had carved out a peaceful existence, could not imagine such a thing and merely presumed it was medical. His classmates and teachers, who knew little of such things, believed the same.  
  
Rikiel soon found it impossible to keep going to school. The incidents kept happening! How could he learn like that?! He had to drop-out!   
  
It got worse; the sweating made it impossible to drive, people started spreading rumours that Rikiel was losing his mind, and the constant mental breakdowns and car crashes were making life hard not only for him but his family too.  
  
It was suggested to Rikiel that he move to a relative's condo in Florida to get away from it all. He claimed that'd make things worse.  
  
It was 'suggested' to Rikiel that he move to a relative's condo in Florida to get away from it all. He followed their advice.  
  
His life was ruined. Despair had struck and it completely ravaged him. No one was willing to help for fear that they too would feel despair if they failed. Rikiel loathed the pity poured down on him and preserved some of his pride, but also lost all faith in his own capabilities and surrendered to a life of difficulty.  
  
But he would not kill himself! People said he'd do it any day now and he re-doubled his resolve to spite them! He was a cursed man and yet he still believed in his ability to survive! He would not simply lay down and die! He would go down fighting even if he lost for the next eight decades!  
  
Rikiel was the Remnant of Despair who inherited both JUDE's eccentricities and her tenacity.  
  


\---

Donatello Versace was a smart boy and no one cared.  
  
He was the most advanced child in his class and his mother didn't care. She had been the middle child of a well-to-do family with a child who everyone resented for ruining their model family. His mother became the family shame and his family the community shame.  
  
No one would deny that Donatello was smart. In fact, he was almost too smart for his own good.  
  
In his defence, these people were looking for a reason to dislike him. They didn't like how he revealed how shallow they were on the inside or that this child could read them so easily. He in turn did not see why he needed to be kind to those who'd hate him regardless.  
  
When his mother married her husband, it was a welcome relief to all but Donatello. He could read this man and knew he was the type who only settled down because his daughters became a barrier to the women looking for a one-night-stand, and his personality repelled most of the women willing to accept and love his daughters.  
  
His step-father would love to talk of how many women he caught, provided he ended it with putting Donatello's mother above all others, and clearly favoured his daughters over Donatello. His mother would do the same for these children were at least accepted as the price of her relationship. Everything he had belonged to others, apparently.  
  
The only line she drew was that Donatello's teddy-bear, a toy he no longer played with from a man he never knew, was not to be touched.  
  
Donatello knew this was not because she cared for the memory. She merely feared what would happen if something happened to it. His eyes analysed her and recognised that she held no love for him. He was merely the curse of living a bit too freely.  
  
When he was thirteen, he tired of being correct about the disdain his family held for him and the little regard his classmates had for him. They were jealous of his intelligence, mocked his strawberry-blonde hair with the black stripe in the centre, and were often victims of his retaliation. Children were ill-equipped for someone on his level.  
  
Donatello knew that he would have to go home as he lacked money. It wasn't even for attention as his 'family' abandoned him to go to Disneyland with an excuse of his school record to leave him behind. In reality, they simply wished to erase him from their image of a family. He didn't care, his mind was only focused on finding a place to sleep and maybe making them shit themselves when they got back.  
  
That was when the incident with the shoes happened and he truly experienced Despair.  
  
Donatello knew the judge wouldn't believe him. She was the type who liked to grand-stand and pretend she had a television show like Judy. She was lying when she said it wasn't a formal hearing and had made-up her mind on circumstantial evidence alone. Whether he told the truth or not didn't matter.  
  
But a part of him wondered if, when the truth came out, she would look like an idiot and be forced to apologise to him. He'd be like that boy in that book about digging holes and be celebrated as a national icon while all his enemies would suffer.  
  
(The judge suffered nothing more than an informal reprimand. It only slightly sated his ego three years later when he heard that she apparently went into hysterics about it.)  
  
Still, he pleaded that the shoes fell from the sky. They were probably thrown by the real culprit or slid down an air duct-  
  
And of course the judge snapped and accused him of being the criminal and that he was the worst kind of scum. Six months in juvie with no one standing up for him. It was only an actual investigation four months in that revealed that Donatello had been right.  
  
Meanwhile, Donatello predicted that he would be physically and mentally abused in this facility. He was the new kid and the weakest in his section and thus easy pickings. The guards would treat him like a punching-bag, he'd be underfed and even then his food would be stolen, and he'd be tormented in a hundred other ways.  
  
For the first time, Donatello experienced the Despair of predictions that went absolutely correct and yet he could change nothing.  
  
He became a skeleton with skin by the time he tripped and cut his hand on a knife he was sure, so sure, hadn't been there. He was also sure that he'd be attacked by the knife's owner, wouldn't be treated for two weeks, and that it would still bring out pus and worms. He'd almost die from the fever.  
  
Donatello decided to live a secluded life and be hidden from the public eye.  
  
In private, he loathed everyone and everything and wanted nothing more than to make them feel his pain. If he had been JUDE, he might have embraced the suffering as a deviation from his predictions. He may have welcomed a world of despair.  
  
But he had inherited JUDE's analysis, not her desire for despair of the self.  
  
He would commit minor crimes and lust in the fear and weakness in the eyes of others. He was too smart to be caught out and even if a policeman saw him, he had a mask, and knew how to run and hide from them. Not even his own family was safe from his power.  
  
No one would ever expect the loner in his bedroom of robbing his own house. Of hitting his step-father with a bat and hearing the cries of his bitch step-sisters. His mother wailed as family treasures were taken and had the gall to speak out for all but Donatello himself. As for their possessions, she only spoke up about Monokuma.  
  
Hearing his so-called family's suffering and despair felt good. Just as it did with all his other tormentors.   
  
He grew to subtly yearn for this despair, but only in the sense that it was retribution and control. It was his way of experiencing the happiness he sought. The happiness he deserved for his troublesome childhood and despairing experience in juvie.  
  
While this happened, he would go through incidents such as pissing against a wall and finding the skeleton of a woman inside the wall. Such incidents defied sense and escaped his analytical vision. If he had abilities at JUDE's level, perhaps he might have made a connection to the supernatural.  
  
But Donatallo lacked the ability or desire for such. Instead, he preferred to commit these petty crimes and lament that his unfairly-given record kept him from enjoying the life he deserved with his intelligence and skills. He cursed his rotten luck, but mostly this world and society that was so predictable and yet denied him the power to gain happiness.  
  
It was like there was a predetermined harmony to which he was locked out of. Everyone could have hope but him who was left with despair. Fine.   
  
But if he had to be in despair, then he would simply make everyone else despair. His dream was to become happier than everyone and anyone else in this world that was so cruel to him.  
  
Donatello was the Remnant of Despair who inherited JUDE's analysis talent and her ambition.  
  


\---

Enrico Pucci wondered if JUDE's children were as tainted as her.  
  
He prayed they were not. He did not think that the world could withstand multiple versions of JUDE, all of which using different Stands. It was hard to imagine anything worse than the power to stop time, but Pucci was not so idealistic as to believe that it was outside all logic.  
  
If they were good souls, then maybe he would even be able to recruit them. He could make them understand the monstrosity of their father, mother, or whatever JUDE was to them. Maybe even show them that this world was doomed to despair unless he reached Heaven and created a world where all could have peace of mind.  
  
If not, then he prayed they could be manipulated.   
  
No two humans are exactly alike. That lesson was one of the few from JUDE that Pucci took to heart and believed to be genuine wisdom. The sins of the father were not the son's and, in that same logic, the son did not always inherit the gifts of the father. They may have her despair, but that was no guarantee they also had her intelligence or analysis.  
  
Pucci could offer them the chance to bring suffering (only ever short-term compared to eternity) or a connection to JUDE. He could even claim that they would find their reason for existing and the source of happiness by serving her cause by serving him. That she wanted for the world to know hope and peace of mind.  
  
Just as to be born was to be chosen, and that chosen one was merely pushed upwards by other sperm, Pucci would be the one chosen to go to Heaven. Perhaps it was the fate of the children of JUDE that they would carry him upwards to his goal of Heaven! That they would be drawn together by Fate's gravity.  
  
Pucci, however, would prefer it if such children remained out of the way if they were merely younger and inferior versions of JUDE. He had his fill of her kind when he spent that time in Cairo and he already had to spend his time with the wretches of Green Dolphin Street Prison.  
  
Johngalli A had been useful but Pucci trusted no servant of JUDE. It was bad enough pretending he was an associate.  
  
But anything to find out the knowledge in Jotaro Kujo's head. The knowledge of how to reach Heaven had been locked away when Jotaro burned JUDE's Diary. In his desire to wash away any trace of JUDE, Jotaro had ended up erasing the one way to destroy all her works, legacy, and desires.   
  
He could have eradicated despair and instead chose to enable it.  
  
That was unforgivable. Pucci was not as idealistic as he once was, after the tragedy with Pearla. Even if he had been, his time with JUDE and the desecration of baptism had been enough to wipe it all away. Jotaro would not agree to the idea of reaching Heaven had Pucci approached him.   
  
No, this was going to have to be Pucci and Pucci alone. Just as it was meant to be. He now recognised that JUDE had wished for him and her to battle at some point. He was supposed to be her final enemy before she ascended to Heaven. He was supposed to be the test for whether hope or despair would triumph.  
  
But now she was dead and he was here.  
  
And that was fine.  
  
Enrico Pucci was a patient man. He knew how to wait and bide his time. Jotaro and his family had moved to Florida for the sake of his marine-biology research. Pucci had plenty of time to create a plan that would somehow ensnare Jotaro and give Pucci the chance to use Whitesnake on him. The Memory-Disc alone would be enough.  
  
A world where all humanity knew their Fate and could face it with resolution. There would be no secrets or surprises that would make people despair or fall into a doomed love. There would be only the Hope that came with peace of mind. No one would be troubled by the uncertain future again.  
  
And that would be Enrico Pucci's victory.  
  
That would be JUDE's defeat.  
  


\---

Somewhere, in the pits of hell, two women laughed uproariously at the priest's inner thoughts.  
  
He truly was JUDE's salvation.


	23. Zero Ball Run

**Special Chapter Four**

**Zero Ball Run**

 

  
\---  


This is the tale of the worst criminal in all the Wild West.  
  
She was born in Britain and had been good with horses. That's all anyone knows of her past. Actually, a better phrase would be that she commanded horses. No one whose halved the lifespan of a horse from stress and fear alone could be called good with them.  
  
Only one horse admired her company; her own personal steed. But we'll get to that.  
  
No one in America hasn't heard of this evil bandit who strikes fear in all good law and god-fearing folk. She's the demon so foul that mothers don't even dare warn their children of what she'll do if they don't follow the rules. Among sheriffs, those who claim they'll catch her are the ones who're either talking big or will die trying.  
  
She was the leader of the gang ELO. It was the reverse of the word audiences would cry out in bullfighting when the matador would move away from the bull successfully. In a way, it was fitting, for she constantly evaded the arm of the law and would make a show of it.  
  
Five years have passed since the gang's formation and the entrance of this woman into history. In that time, fifty-five banks, twelve trains, and countless travellers have been robbed. Their largest heist netted them $100,000 in total and their sum total is estimated at around $175-250,000.  
  
That's just the monetary cost. The death-toll among most killers of the Wild West are in the single digits. The worst tend to go under thirty, with a few rare exceptions.  
  
For the leader of ELO, her personal death-toll is at 95 and that's just the confirmed. There are still reports of ladies of the night, roaming miners presumed missing, and a mix of sharecroppers and native tribes who have been her victims. Some estimates argue that the true number is around 200! Others say 500!!! Such evil was once thought unimaginable!  
  
It's not simply that she's a brute. They're easier to catch.  
  
She was also intelligent, swift, and knew how to plan a battle. Just a single year into her career, she and the rest of ELO were holed up in their hide-out by Death Valley and were surrounded by marshals with orders to kill on sight. Too much blood had been spilled to risk taking her in.  
  
Five hours later and the entire team was dead. All of ELO, except for their leader and a mysterious rider next to her, had died with bullet-wounds to the back. She had killed her own crew for no discernable reason.  
  
When searching the base, it was discovered that ELO had a gatling gun and multiple rifles in multiple fox-holes that were otherwise empty. The investigation debated whether the notorious bandit herself manned these stations before dismissing the idea. The aim and focus required was impossible for any man, let alone a woman.  
  
ELO, as a gang, was known for its high turnover. Members were frequently murdered by their own leader, or were forced to engage in shoot-outs with each other for her amusement, and the horses themselves would be shot, stabbed, or even bitten for no other reason than a whim. It's been argued that members are coerced into joining and that a pledge for immunity should be offered if one of them killed their leader.  
  
Most agree, however, that the pledge would fail. It'd take more than that to kill her.  
  
The only four members of ELO that have survived these three years are two humans and their horses. The first is the leader herself and her appaloosa named Karma Chameleon; distinct for its dual black and white coating on its left and right side respectively. The second is a lone gun-man that many claim was responsible for the massacre in Nevada. They ride a name less quarter-horse with a coat that some say changes with the very terrain, letting rider and horse hide in plain sight.  
  
These facts are only known because of a tendency of the leader of ELO. A tendency that has gained her international fame and a softer reputation than in the USA or Mexico. And that tendency is her disguising herself and competing in certain competitions.  
  
Indeed, many British newspapers compared her antics to Robin Hood when she entered a Derby and came in first place under an alias when it became known. At the time, US reporters applauded the efforts of 'Yes Maxfield' and claimed he'd be a rival for rising star Jonathan 'Johnny' Joestar. He even conducted himself well when receiving the trophy.  
  
The next day, the Governor of the state where that contest had been held was given a trophy filled to the brim with blood and a picture of 'Yes Maxfield' revealing himself to be the famous bandit herself! She had taken Karma Chameleon and won the race!  
  
An outage broke out at how such an obvious horse could not have been noticed! How could its coat have changed without paint or dye?  
  
Five more times she did this until three years ago when she mysterious stopped. No one understood why, just as no one understood why she did it in the first place, but every time she won the race she entered. Some argue that rising attention to the acrobatics performed when winning these races was the reason. To keep cover, she would have to tone it down, and that was one thing she never did.  
  
Yes, this woman has truly carved her way into Wild West, and American, history as a blood-thirsty bandit who has looked the law in the eye and spat in its face. President Funny Valentine himself made a campaign pledge that, if this bandit was not stopped by the end of his term, he would resign from office. The defeat of the first military response had, after all, stained the entire term of his predecessor.  
  
Time will tell if the beloved President Valentine will succeed in this crusade. It is a noble effort but one that many have taken up before and failed. This woman is only twenty years old as well and may have a long time spent bringing the innocent into despair.  
  
But if anyone can stop the foul 'Mad Jude', also known as Judith Eydris, then surely it can be President Valentine! Indeed, he must stop her! America, nay justice itself, demands it!  
  
For who knows what evil she may plan for the upcoming Steel Ball Run if not stopped soon.  
  


\---

Rio was quite happy for a girl who could not remember anything.  
  
That wasn't entirely true. She could remember how to ride a horse, how to speak and breathe and do normal people things, and she could even remember her own appearance without looking in a mirror. Memories that were essential to survive were easy for her to recall.  
  
But when it came to family, friends, and indeed her entire past, Rio could remember nothing. She was a girl who could not remember how she learnt to ride a horse or how she came to exist. She knew nothing of her mother and father. Indeed, she did not actually remember her own name.  
  
It had only been because she had read the cover of her precious notebook that she took on the name Rio.  
  
The notebook contained all the recordings she had made since she had been struck by this...disease? It told her of directions to go and which horse was hers and, most importantly of all, the name of the boy she loved most in the whole world. The only one who remained by her side and who she remained with.  
  
 _Let me see, it said to go right from the hostel and- There he is!_ Rio's face brightened as she saw the back of her boyfriend disappear into the side of a building. That must be the stables! He must have been going to check on the horses!  
  
Rio rushed over without a care in the world and with a merry skip. Even as the men outside waved and whistled, she just kept running. She paid no mind to the small and old Japanese man waiting by the sidewalk, or the strange woman in the funny-spiked hat, or even of the sad-looking boy in the wheelchair. All she cared about were those stables and the man inside them.  
  
In no time at all, she reached the very entrance of the stables, threw open the door and immediately squeaked as a horseshoe came flying next to her.  
  
The horseshoe was embedded in the wall to her left and was still vibrating from the impact. Any closer and it might have hit her!  
  
"Maybe it'd do something about your ugliness then." A voice said. It came from next to the horses and it was the only one that would never be familiar to her.  
  
His clothes had been dirtied from the journey, but he never cleaned them anyway. His white shirt was covered in stains and was only half-tucked in. Black trousers went down to brown leather boots that he only reluctantly wore because of the sand and stones. He normally wore sandals indoors.  
  
But that didn't matter. Because Rio only cared about him himself and loved every part. She loved his silky, messy, black hair, she loved his girly eyelashes that went with his pale blue eyes that were always in a frown, and she especially loved his small lips. His feminine body belied a strength inside him both physical and mental. He was the one who took care of Rio every day.  
  
He was Yes Maxfield. The one of the two only living souls Rio could remember the name of; the other was her red appaloosa who always had mischievous grin and- according to Yes- had similar memory problems. Every day, when he woke up, he'd have to learn how to move his legs again and go over how to run and learn. No one else could ever ride him.  
  
Rio was the only one he accepted. He was A Horse With No Name, because Rio could never remember the first name she gave him, and neither could he.  
  
And next to him was Yes' horse, a black quarter-horse named...she couldn't remember. She was sure she would know if she checked her notebook, but right now she was pre-occupied with a certain insult he just made about her.  
  
"I'm not ugly! I'm cute!" She said. She was sure of it!  
  
"I'm sure a lot of other mules would agree with you." He replied, quick as a whistle. Rio blushed and tried again.  
  
"I'll have you know, a lot of men outside said I looked good enough to-"  
  
"As I said, a lot of jackasses would agree with you." Yes' voice sounded gruffer and angrier. Rio wondered if it was something she did. "You're late too. The only reason I agreed to let you come with me on this was because I thought it'd be good to have another rider helping me. Your condition and stupidity makes you practically useless, but if even a fraction of your skill remains, we have a chance to win."  
  
"Helping you with what? I asked to come with you?" Rio asked. She didn't understand. Had Yes been planning on leaving her behind? Was it something she did? She had to know! "Are you going somewhere? Is there a girl you like?!"  
  
"Rio, why don't you go and eat some sand. It'll make you shit, but that means less crap coming from you overall since you won't be talking so much." Yes said in that same grumpy voice as always. He turned back and raised a brush to his horse, who snorted, but accepted it nonetheless. "I'm doing this for the fifty million dollar reward that goes to the winner. I can actually use that money for some good."  
  
Rio knew she should be grateful to be dating a man like Yes Maxfield. He was twenty years old and already was a doctor, let alone on the most well-regarded in the medical world, for one simple reason. Where most doctors treated sickness of the body and sickness of the mind differently, Yes was among a select few who treated the sickness of both in one.  
  
He was a doctor of the brain. A neurologist, he once called it.  
  
Years he honed his craft as a child in Britain. He was decades younger than most of his peers and yet had both the tools and knowledge to treat patients. He could remove tumours and spoke of strokes and trauma and the countless diseases that went unknown that were simply written off as hysteria or disruptive behaviour. Success alone silenced any who questioned his ability.  
  
He had his critics as well, jealous because of his age and talent, as Rio assumed, which led to him travelling to New York and taking up work there.  
  
Rio didn't know more than that. She knew she came from the same town as Yes and she knew that she'd been with him when going to America, but that was only because of the notebook. Yes didn't say much else of the past and Rio had no way of knowing. He wouldn't say it even if she asked about it even yesterday.  
  
"You'd just forget it, so what's the point? All you need to know is that you were just as annoying a nuisance as you are now." Yes had said with a shrug of his shoulders.  
  
"Was I really that annoying in the past?" Rio whispered to herself to which Yes scoffed.  
  
"Yes, you definitely were-" He stopped and the horse-brush dropped from his head. He turned his head to her. "Did you remember that?"  
  
Rio had never seen her boyfriend look so shocked. It was as if he'd been struck by lightning and then hit by a train! He walked briskly towards her and there was something new in his eyes. Something almost intimidating. He held her arms tight and his face was so close to hers.  
  
"Be honest. Tell me if you remembered that conversation from yesterday." He said. Rio wondered if he'd be mad if she kissed him right now.  
  
"No. I'm sorry." She said, shaking her head. She tapped his arm with her notebook and he let go. "I got it from my notebook." She opened and turned the page to show him, right next to where it directed her to him.  
  
 _Yes said we used to be close as children. Although he also said I was annoying and a nuisance. That can't be! Maybe he's just trying to make me feel better about how I am now._  
  
Her feelings were only a little hurt when Yes rolled his eyes and turned to walk back to his horse. "Don't get a big head. What's the point in lying if you won't remember? The sooner we get the money to help fix your brain, the better." He said, which made Rio retreat into herself.  
  
"Do you think then we could meet my family and friends again?" She asked. Yes stopped again.  
  
"...Would you even want that?"  
  
Rio thought about it. Did she have family and friends? She only seemed to have Yes around her and while that was more than enough for the rest of her life...was it really only him? Did no one think to visit or ask about her?  
  
Yes had mentioned it once before to her, according to her notebook. She had read about it while waiting for him in her room. That those who lacked the capabilities to advance beyond a certain age mentally, or those simply with such disorders, were often abandoned in asylums or- if your family was rich- an estate filled with servants and guards. But that was it. Your only company would be the staff and fellow patients.  
  
Your friends would forget about you beyond being a tragic story. Your family, seeing you as an embarrassment, would give excuses or simply just stop talking about you. All you'd be was a memory left to gather dust.  
  
Was Rio one of those girls?  
  
"No. No I wouldn't. Maybe if I remembered them, but..." Rio bit her lip. Would Yes be mad if she was honest? "Right now, the Rio that they knew may be gone. If they didn't care to send letters or visit me, then maybe they're gone, or they gave up on me. I don't think I'd like to be with people that give up on me." She said, nervously waiting to see how Yes would react.  
  
"Whatever," Yes started walking towards his horse again. "Come on, the race is starting soon and we need to get registered. The owner of this place is also getting pissy as shit and I'm close to pistol-whipping him." He ordered.  
  
"If it comes to a fight, I'll help you." Rio said, filled to the brim with fighting spirit!  
  
"Some help you'd be." Yes laughed to himself, but then he turned with a serious look on his face again. "Don't try getting into a fight. We don't want that kind of attention. And not the 'don't sleep on the bedframe with the bed over you and the blanket under you' kind of attention."  
  
Rio looked at her notebook and saw what he meant. She read of how he warned her about a gang chasing them. A gang that was feared and hated across the land for their evil crimes. The two would have to be careful lest they'd be found and kidnapped by the gang.  
  
Only, the book didn't say why they were being chased.  
  
 _I wonder if they think Yes did something bad._ Rio shook her head so quickly her brain was starting to hurt. If it was already broken though, then a few collisions with the skull was nothing! Not compared to getting rid of that silly idea of Yes being bad.  _If they want to hurt Yes, then they're bad people. I can't trust them._  
  
Rio wouldn't let anything happen to her beloved Yes!  
  
Without warning, she ran towards him and wrapped her arms around him tight. She nuzzled her face against the back of his shirt until she couldn't see anything. She took a deep breath of his shirt and let the scent fill her. It was a welcome change from the smell of horses, even if his shirt was a bit sweaty.  
  
Rio didn't care. It was Yes' smell. She could spent the rest of her life in this position right now. All she ever wanted in life was to be like this; holding onto Yes as tightly as possible and letting his warmth envelop her. It'd be like they'd be resting in the same bed after a long day.  
  
The thought made her giggle, even as Yes began struggling against her hug.  
  
"Get off me! I don't want your stench stuck on me and that laughter is creepy as hell! Weirder than your dumb sleeping habits." Yes finally got a grip on her hair and tugged harshly. Rio let go after a few seconds and pouted.  
  
"How rude! I bathe regularly..." Rio said, before turning to her sleeping arrangements. "And I like having the bed over me! It's like I have ten times the warmth!"  
  
"If you like being crushed and looking like an idiot. Actually, you don't need to worry about that last bit. Why change who you are?" Yes asked. Even against the full-power of Rio's pout, he turned away and walked to his horse. "Just get your Horse With No Name and let's go."  
  
Rio reluctantly went to follow his order. Horse With No Name was normally so well-behaved around her and today was no exception. He never tampered with the bag tied to its right side designed specifically so Rio could put in and take out her notebook without a problem. Right now, however, she didn't need to ride but just lead.  
  
Before she did, she checked her notebook for the name of Yes' horse.  
  
Roundabout.  
  
It made sense. Life with Rio was a bit of a roundabout in having to be stuck doing the same thing every day. Rio had the honour of being treated by him personally and appreciated his hard work.   
  
All she wanted was to be able to get better for his sake and begin a new and happy life with him. Whether they would be in California, New York, England, or wherever in this whole world, or even the Moon, she would be happy as long as she had him. They'd be married and they'd have babies and they'd even have a farm if Yes ever got tired of being a doctor and just wanted to be with his wife!  
  
Win the Steel Ball Run. That was the only way, the notebook said Yes had said to her, that they could have that life. He liked to dress it up in insults but meant every word. With $50 million, they could do anything!  
  
Rio would win that money for Yes. She didn't care if she never got her memories back and lost all her ties to the past. She would win this race for Yes' sake.  
  
 _Yes is all I need. As long as I have Yes, nothing and no one else in this world matters._ Rio began to dress her horse in its saddle and reins and everything else it needed. Of all she things she forgot, she still remembered this.  
  
As she led Horse With No Name out of the stables, she did her best to wait behind Yes and follow his lead. Even if she forgot where they were going, she wondered if it was another stable, she would remember Yes and follow him. Nothing would make her hesitate or worry.  
  
Except maybe the floating woman next to Yes who swayed her hips and giggled near him as if she was his girlfriend and not Rio. The woman who Rio thought no one else could see. That was until she saw Yes, even while muttering about a mosquito, started waving his hand to make the flying woman go away.  
  
Rio wondered if this was the vampire Carmilla her notebook said she read about once.  
  
 _Reminder. Buy stakes. That usually works on vampires._ Rio doubled down on her resolve. It didn't matter if vampires weren't supposed to be out in the sunlight! This was still a potential enemy.  
  
And, against all enemies, she would protect her beloved Yes at all costs!  
  


\---

Yes Maxfield wasn't an idiot. He knew the woman he loved was a monster.  
  
Judith Eydris was his companion since childhood. He hesitated to call her a childhood friend as he remembered the many times she exasperated him and made him feel like an idiot for going along with her stupidity. The memory of that stupid sand-castle still stuck with him to this day.  
  
She wasn't always Mad Jude. There must have been a time where her heart had been somewhat innocent and her intentions holding some sort of purity. Yes believed that because he had to believe it.  
  
But he wasn't going to ignore what she had become.  
  
It all started when Judith's mother died. She had always taught Martha and Judith to live with pride and then died. When Martha abandoned her shortly after, Judith had nobody in the world but Yes and his family to help her. They too knew what it was like to lose a mother.  
  
At least Judith's had a dignified death. She wasn't carted off to some asylum where she rotted away and refused to acknowledge her own son.  
  
When Judith finally confessed the truth to her little lie, it had been a moment that changed Yes' life. He was no longer alone but instead had a woman who was neither family nor lover and certainly not a friend. And yet, she was somehow above all of that.  
  
Yes remembered how her strawberry-blonde hair glowed under the midday sun and how her smile could light people's hearts. Not that he ever said as much to her.  
  
Someday, however, Judith clearly decided that she was done feeding her mind brain-twisters and books meant for boys. She wanted something more violent and real. She wanted something that let her go all-out and light the world itself on fire.  
  
Yes was always tempted to blame Martha. She was the one who returned from the Indian Wars with a rifle, a ticket to New York, and a plea for forgiveness. As if sending her pay directly to Judith wasn't enough of a bribe. Yes had told Judith she would be right to tell her sister to leave and never come back. She deserved it, after what leaving had done to her little sister.  
  
Judith had other ideas. Other ideas which included dragging Yes from his failing attempts to convince doctors in Britain that the brain was actually really fucking important and to New York. His new job was to do the same thing but to different people.  
  
He actually found an ally in Washington. A man who trusted and believed in his theories and studies.  
  
His girlfriend, on the other hand, entertained herself by bringing along her favourite horse and using it and Martha to turn the Wild West into her personal playground. Everything was her toy but especially the people who'd be her targets.  
  
Her operations were random. That was the secret. It'd be a name in a hat and that's what the great ELO would do next. It was hard to catch criminals working under such logic, but no one seemed to care. There was definitely no excuse when they were faced with Judith's mastery of disguise.  
  
Yes should have turned her in. By all moral and legal accounts, that'd have been the right thing to do.  
  
But Yes knew better. He could fix her. He knew he could!  
  
There was a chance to save her now. A chance to rescue her from the despair she felt was all she had to free herself from boredom. He could eliminate that ennui and thus the need for despair. He could give Judith a blank slate to live her life with!  
  
All it needed was for him to remove all of her memories of the past. All except for the fact that she was in love with him.  
  
Judith had wanted to enter the Steel Ball Run but knew that Valentine would catch her if she did. Her addiction to despair had actually worked in his favour since it meant that she went with Blinded Me With Science for her plan. A plan to sneak into the Steel Ball Ruin with a disguise so great that not even she would recognise herself.  
  
Rio was pure. Rio didn't know of boredom or despair. She had no memories of committing Judith's sins and was, for all intents and purposes, a different person emotionally and mentally.  
  
By removing Judith's memories, Yes had managed to rescue his girlfriend from her own sins, and he would keep it that way.  
  
A life of eternal amnesia was no way to live, however. Yes had learnt that from his childhood. The answer was just to delete the memory of Mad Jude but to create the memories of Rio (eventually) Maxfield that would take their place entirely.  
  
If only it was as easy to create as it was to destroy. Such a power only belonged to God.  
  
"I need to collect the Holy Corpse if I am to succeed in my dream for this nation. You understand, don't you? Even if you do not share my love for this country, I know you feel that same love for another. A woman you believe sick and cursed and yet capable of being cured. A drastic measure, but I can see it as necessary. Yes, my friend, help me attain all the pieces of the Holy Corpse and I will let you use its power to erase the evil of Judith Eydris and create a new woman. A woman free from the sins of her past and able to move forward into the future."  
  
President Valentine had always been a generous patron and understanding when Yes had explained, early in Mad Jude's rampage, that kidnapping him and using him as a hostage or bait would fail. Judith's mind was too powerful and her lust for suffering would kick in.  
  
So instead, they would use a greater power than their own to free Judith and whatever Valentine wanted with it.  
  
Yes knew the President well enough. If he got what he wanted, he would let Yes and Rio live in peace. They wouldn't need to worry about the law or Martha or any kind of danger. They could move on with their lives and create a better life for each other.  
  
Yes Maxfield held onto that dream. It would be a fire for what he would have to do in this race in order to get his happy ending. In order to get Judith's happy ending.  
  
He would need to gather the parts of the Holy Corpse for Valentine, keep Rio safe, avoid ELO chasing them down, and especially make sure that Martha did not get anywhere near Rio at all costs. The woman was poison and would enable her little sister yet again. She was so desperate for a sister that'd accept her that she'd let her become a monster whose fate was death.  
  
Yes wouldn't allow that. He would protect Judith at all costs. He would not let her fall into despair again.  
  


\---

They thought they could run.  
  
 _Johnny Joestar, Gyro Zeppeli, Yes Maxfield,_  Martha paused as her eyes fell on her. The woman latching herself onto Maxfield as if he was the most precious thing in the world to her.  _Rio. All four of them think they can escape._  
  
Martha had been ashamed that Doctor Ferdinand had gotten the drop on her. He had turned her, the finest shot in the world, into nothing more than a pet with which he could command and order around. It didn't matter that she was a dinosaur. All that mattered was that she had lost.  
  
But she avenged herself and the identity of Mad Jude.  
  
Now the Left Eye of the Holy Corpse was hers. It had become one with her and it had given her a Stand that would make winning the Steel Ball Run so easy for her now. The combination of Stand power and her physical prowess would make this a cinch.  
  
Judith used to always tell Martha that all she was good for was killing. From the landowner who allowed their mother to starve to death, all those Indians she gunned down under a fake name and identity after crossing over the Atlantic, to her services as the second founding member of ELO. Martha had certainly killed her fair share of people.  
  
She may have been smelly, stupid, and ugly, but she was good at killing. That was a skill her younger sister very much desired in a subordinate.  
  
Martha, right now, however, was doing a decent job of following the script given to her by Judith. She was doing every thing right down to the last very characteristic. No one had noticed a single difference between herself and the original Mad Jude.  
  
It was like freckles didn't even exist.  
  
None of the other members of ELO had questioned it because they hadn't seen Mad Jude up close before. All of them were newer members picked out after the latest purge. This time there was an actual purpose other than Judith being bored!  
  
Which was good since they also made good wolves.  
  
Martha had wondered if it was the act of the Holy Corpse or her own willpower that the Stand Scary Monsters became one of Martha's own. A Stand unique to herself and herself alone.  
  
Hungry Like The Wolf did not have an appearance like Tusk or She Blinded Me With Science. Its very appearance was the same as what it turned Martha into. A huge hulking wolf that was the size of a horse. Its wild black fur rushed through the wind as powerful, meaty legs pounced onto the ground, and a slavering set of jaws opened slightly for Martha to let out a howl.  
  
Yes briefly turned back to glare daggers at her. Whether it was from personal distaste, the fact that Martha had caught up to them, or both, didn't matter. Martha did her best to glare back at Yes and begin the hunt once more. Her pack followed slowly behind, all with varying coats of fur and different sizes; the horses tended to be of equal size while the men were slightly smaller than Martha's form.  
  
It was easy for them to make up for the others' head-start. They thought they would be safe and reach Missouri in time, but they were wrong. Dead wrong. Martha would be the one to win the Steel Ball Run and collect the Holy Corpse. It was all going by Judith's plan.  
  
And yet, her heart did warm slightly to see Rio holding a familiar set of steel-balls in hand.  
  
Martha, in her disguise as Judith, had told Rio to watch her closely even when fighting. She had managed to dance and dodge and avoid Johnny, Gyro, and Yes' attacks all simultaneously. Even as a dinosaur, her instincts remained as sharp as always, and had been a decent example for Rio.  
  
One of her wolves, blonde coat and too large to have once been a man, got dangerously close to Rio and her Horse With No Name. It opened its jaws and made straight for Judith's throat and damnit Martha was too far away to call it back! How could she have made such a mistake?  
  
But the mistake was actually to have doubted Judith's vision.  
  
"Duran Duran!" Rio cried out as she threw a steel ball straight at the jaw of the wolf. Golden energy crackled around the ball as the wolf moved its head to the side, but too slow to avoid the ball striking at its side.  
  
The jaw slammed shut just inches away from Rio's flesh. The force of the bite had already thrown the wolf off its balance when its jaw opened again and bit down with the exact same force! The wolf howled out in a confused fury at its own action. It clearly didn't intend to make a second bite.  
  
It also didn't intend to be open for Blinded Me With Science to punch it straight in the snout. The wolf stumbled onto the ground rolling with a loud whine. It was not used to this sort of pain as a wolf or as the horse it once was.  
  
Martha swallowed back her pride at her little sister's intelligence. She was not Martha Eydris right now. She was Mad Jude; the woman who cowed the Wild West and America itself. She was supposed to try and win the Steel Ball Run with everything she had. She did not ask why. She did not think of the future or herself.  
  
She put all her faith in the sister who needed and loved her.  
  
Yes' plan had been obvious from the start. He didn't love Judith. He simply loved the reminder of his dead mother and the idea of being the only one such an amazing woman would care for. The image Judith had created in Yes' mind was now brought to life.  
  
All those years Martha had spent away...she should have never let such a greedy man near her little sister. She wanted to take her away from her and lock her up where she'd be a good little wife for him to enjoy and own.  
  
There was more than a slight bit of truth in Martha's growling towards Yes. She was even willing to bare Rio's glare and readiness to use Duran Duran on her. She was even willing to play the grand villain of the Steel Ball Run. All of this was worth it.  
  
 _The Holy Corpse. The man who committed the most foul betrayal and redeemed himself by spreading the Gospel venturing east until he reached the West._ Martha gritted her teeth. It sounded as insane as it was, but she didn't care.  
  
Judith had given her the plan and trusted her with the most essential of all roles.  
  
"Valentine's probably gonna know the truth, but he won't risk doing it openly. Not when he knows that the original is under his thumb." Judith had said under the night sky. That night had been for them only. Judith rustled under the covers and whispered sweet poison into Martha's ear. "So you make sure all eyes are on you. You make sure no one is looking away. This is Mad Jude's last stand and I won't settle for anything less than the grandest heist in the world!"  
  
To steal the corpse of the Fallen Disciple of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  
  
Only a woman like Judith Eydris could ever imagine such a bizarre plan.  
  


\---

"Gyro!" Johnny looked and cursed to himself. "Shit, we need to go back for him!"  
  
Johnny had heard ELO's leader was a smart woman. She must have noticed Valkyrie's tendency to ride to the left and took advantage of it. She and the rest of her wolves had managed to cut Gyro off from the group and were going to either turn him and Valkyrie to rip them to shreds.  
  
That wouldn't even be it. Mad Jude had hunted them all the way from the fight with Doctor Ferdinand to now. Even after they completed Cannon City, she was still racing after them. She'd been unrelenting and unforgiving and probably wouldn't stop until she either got them all, or managed to capture Rio and Yes.  
  
Johnny had half a mind to leave them behind before Mad Jude had started firing on them. She had somehow stood up on her saddle and kept balance and aimed straight for them. That was when he realised she didn't care for leaving survivors.  
  
 _It's true what they said. Mad Jude really doesn't ever give up. She just attacks and attacks without end. She doesn't stop until she gets a kill._ Johnny glared at the massive black wolf staring at him. She may have been the greatest villain of all time to some folks, but Johnny wasn't about to run with his tail between his legs.  _You're not having him. I won't let you take Gyro!_  
  
"Johnny," Rio's voice cut him off from his thoughts. "I have to confess something." She said, making him grit his teeth.  
  
"If it's about the memory-thing, you told us already! Damnit! Now?! We can't have you losing your memory. Can't you check your notebook again?" He demanded. Couldn't Yes say something?!  
  
"Johnny. I'm not going to look at my precious notebook while riding." Rio's words didn't taken him aback more than her tone. She sounded as if she was not angry, but definitely bothered. It was so much better suited for Yes that Johnny turned to face her.  
  
He regretted it the moment he saw her eyes.  
  
Ever since he met her, Rio has been stupid, naive, weird, prone to tears and panic whenever Yes left, and pretty much obsessed with that guy way too much. Being around her was like being with half a person, not least because she was always forgetting. It was unnerving to see someone broken like him but in a different way.  
  
But she wasn't like this. She didn't seem like it. She had been pure, or so Johnny thought.  
  
Now? Now, she had the eyes of one of his father's wealthy friends who grimaced whenever they saw a beggar in the streets. Those grimy and ugly people who had dared intrude on their perfect little world. Their very pleas were like a pebble in their shoes and something to be removed.  
  
It was a look Johnny had given others a lot when he'd been famous.  
  
He knew at that very moment that Rio not only felt that she couldn't do anything to help, but that she also wouldn't do anything to help. As far as she was concerned, this was someone else's problem.  
  
"This has nothing to do with me." She said without an ounce of sympathy. "It's not my fault that you and Gyro ended up in this situation. That's simply your own bad luck for meeting me and Yes."  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?! You can't just leave him! He taught you the Spin! You wouldn't have Duran Duran if it wasn't for him." Johnny replied. She wouldn't be alive and this was how she was repaying him?!  
  
"And now you two and this Mad Jude are threatening the world I have with Yes. It's happy and beautiful and loving," Rio didn't glare as much as she stared without emotion. The way you'd speak to the corpse of a stranger. "If I abandon you now, I will cry and feel terrible and you'll have every right to hate me. But then I will forget. I will lost my feeling of self-hatred and guilt and resume living in my happy world. I will chase and chase until I reach that world again. I will forget all the painful truths."  
  
Johnny didn't know how she rolled that steel ball into her hand. Gyro had said that she was exceptional at the Spin; like the equations in her head were done in a second. Now she was going to use that skill to completely fuck the two of them over.  
  
"If you and Gyro survive and we meet again, please don't hate me," Rio asked gently. Next to her, Johnny could see Yes looking away with conflicted eyes, but still doing nothing. "Because the me you'll meet will have no recollection of betraying you."  
  
She moved quick. Johnny was probably lucky in the long-run that he didn't waste a nail on her, to be honest.  
  
That was only because he'd need as many as he could get for the fight with Mad Jude and her Hungry Like The Wolf.   
  
Duran Duran struck at Slow Dancer's front right leg and Johnny's horse lost its rhythm and took a quick step to the right. Johnny had to use years of instinct to try and correct Slow Dancer right. He had almost managed to minimise the damage.  
  
Only for Slow Dancer to yet again take one sudden step to the right again, at the same speed and same strength, as when it had been in full-gallop. Johnny was a good rider, but years of inexperience were already a problem, and he had probably messed up in cutting Slow Dancer's speed. The horse was now going crazy as it was dragged in one direction by a single leg.  
  
Yes and Rio were already too far gone for Johnny to try and take revenge. Even if they weren't, Johnny was busy making sure that Slow Dancer hadn't broken its leg and that it'd calm down. Any horse would go wild after being struck by Duran Duran.  
  
For all that it was worth, which Johnny personally put at shit-level, Yes seemed a little uncomfortable with what they just did. Not enough to actually matter and change things. Just enough that he felt a little bad about leaving them behind. That, or he thought Rio should have killed them.  
  
Who'd have thought both of them would have equally rotten personalities?  
  
Johnny had no time to think about that. He was managing to calm Slow Dancer down enough and he could see Gyro racing towards him on Valkyrie. It looked like he managed to use Ball Breaker to escape. There was a trail of blood behind Gyro around one of the wolves, which was a good sign, and he wasn't turning into one either. So Hungry Like The Wolf hadn't infected him.  
  
Only now the two of them were stuck facing a pack of giant wolves with half of their group having stabbed them in the back.  
  
 _Rio, I saw those eyes. You may play nice and kind and act like you're an angel. But I saw your soul._ Johnny shot a glare at the two riders leaving him and Gyro to die. He saw the truth inside those eyes.  _And I saw the devil._  
  
"Gyro, you alright?" He asked, letting a lot more of his fear show than he wanted. Gyro, meanwhile, just laughed.  
  
"Nyohoho. Johnny, it's going to take more than that for a pack of dogs to take me out." Gyro replied. He sighed as the pack didn't strike, but instead moved to surround the pair. "What're the odds they just leave us alone?"  
  
"Ufufufu," The wolf right behind them, Mad Jude herself, chuckled and opened her salivating jaws. "Lower than you think."  
  
"Great it talks. Just what we need." Johnny muttered under his breath. Gyro looked dead-serious as he reached for his remaining steel balls.  
  
"Johnny, I'm not going to lie," He said, only to smirk. "It's gonna get ruff."  
  
Johnny wished he could say anything to express how terrible that joke was. Anything at all; since there was no sarcasm in the world that could handle that joke.  
  
But he was kind of busy with the wolves who were getting ready to rip both he and Gyro to bits. It was only slightly worse than being turned into Judith Eydris' pets themselves but not that much. Johnny had heard how she treated her underlings.  
  
Surrounded on all sides, the only way out was to fight, and Johnny still had that joke at the back of his mind.  
  
 _If I die here, the last joke I'll ever hear was that one._ Johnny readied Tusk again and prepared for the fight of his life.  _It's too bad I'm already giving it all to survive this. That might have helped otherwise._  
  
And so, once again, Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli fought for their lives to escape and complete this race.  
  
The two of them would reach the end of Steel Ball Run yet.  
  


\---

"So...you have regained them. Your memories."   
  
Funny Valentine knew that D4C could do nothing to save his life.  
  
Johnny Joestar's Stand had pierced through even Love Train and had struck Valentine with the Infinite Spin. No matter how many worlds he went to, or how many other Valentines he had take his place, the result would be the same. He would die drowning in soil and earth.  
  
Yet here he was, waiting to die yet again, with but a single desperate plan left to try and save himself. A gambit that could go either way, if fate was on his side. If not, then he would die.  
  
 _But that does not mean that my dream must die with me. I can still bring eternal glory and hope to my country._ Valentine would not change paths, not even now. He would ensure that America would be blessed by the Holy Corpse no matter what.  
  
So that was why he was here in a barren and dead land, the ground crackling with parched stone, and not a single sign of life beyond the cacti and the snakes that laid in wait for prey to come.  
  
Disregarding the devil before him, naturally.  
  
"I know why you're here. I imagine you realised the perfect heist and believed the best way to avoid my D4C was to hide your memories." Valentine said. He did not strive to mock, but not even he could keep curiosity from taking hold. "Did you realise that Yes loved you enough to try and save you? That he'd plead for your life?"  
  
She said nothing. Only the dripping from her coated-red boots and the distant cry of a vulture came as a reply to Valentine's question.  
  
"No doubt did you follow me here. Yes told me of your Stand. It's a surprisingly rare one, for your kind." He added, laying the bait.  
  
She perked up at that. For all her intellect and analysis, likely knowing he was not speaking of Rio's Duran Duran, there were some things she had no chance of knowing. The certainty that other worlds existed was one, until recently. Now she knew that there were others, some like her, who wielded the Stand she had used a twisted fragment of for the last few weeks.  
  
The allure of further knowledge- realisations she had no idea of that shook her identity to its core- would be how Valentine would win her over to his last gambit.  
  
"I do not have much time. The Holy Corpse must be delivered to the vault in New York. My life means nothing if the Corpse can reach its destination and spread its power across my country." He narrowed his eyes at her, even when it held no point. She may be necessary, but she was still disgusting. "I know you will do this."  
  
In the reports of her rampage, two words emerged in every one of them. 'Hope' and 'Despair'. Two sides of the same coin, both utterly reliant on the existence of the other to survive. Every dragon needed a knight to battle with it, after all.  
  
America would be the beacon of hope for the world. A paradise safe from war and hatred and the ills that plagued mankind. All Americans- no matter their race or creed- would come together in harmony as the dream of the Founding Fathers and all true patriots to the American ideal would be fulfilled.  
  
Meanwhile, the world outside would suffer from the reflected evils and despair. War, greed, and hate would corrupt the Old World and much of the New and make it into a wasteland of ruin. Just as America would be a beacon of hope, the rest of the world would be painted with despair.  
  
Just as she would want it.  
  
 _It matters not on why she will carry out my will. All that matters is that 'justice' is done and that I fulfil my duty to my country._ Valentine had sacrificed so much for this vision. The Holy Corpse knew his desires were pure and righteous and supported him in them. It did not reject him.  
  
He was already putting his mortal coil on the line. What was his immortal soul worth when weighed against his country?  
  
"What do you say? Will you take my offer?" He asked. "It's the only way that you will escape this new dimension and avoid death." Valentine knew that it did not make her acquiescence a certainty.  
  
She said nothing. It was the opposite to how she had been described; wild and uncontrollable. She was the leading cause of ELO's casualties, rather than any federal or state agent. Right now, Valentine was sinking into the ground and she didn't give a damn.  
  
Maybe that was it. Her thirst for suffering extended to herself, so why not let herself die if it meant snuffing out the hope of the President of the USA? Death was the ultimate end and what better way to die than in a world unknown? That is, if you were a madman.   
  
Had Valentine misjudged her? Would he be forced to rely on some other world's version of her, if he even made it?  
  
She spoke.  
  
"Sure." She said with but a shrug of her shoulders. "Drop me off with D4C and I'll do it. Bring the Corpse to New York, put it in the vault, and make America the happiest, hope-iest place on earth. On one condition."  
  
"And that is...?" Valentine let the sentence hang for her sake.  
  
"Say it." Her lips curled to a smile. He did not have to see her face to know that. "Say out loud what you've just asked and to who."  
  
Valentine gritted his teeth. It wasn't the worst act he could commit, but he never liked to compromise with terrorists. "I am not ashamed to act for justice," His resolution made the words slightly less poisonous to speak. "I, President Funny Valentine of the United States of America, do request that you take the Holy Corpse and bring it to New York, turning my country into paradise and the world into hell. This is what I ask of you,"  
  
She turned and he finally saw it. The red hair remained true, having little time to remove the dye when murdering your lovers, but everything else had returned to how it had once been. Curious eyes were now seas of malevolence, shy yet eager smiles had become a long scythe blade curling on both ends, and where innocent laughter filled the air, now there was only that cruel and teasing giggle.  
  
"Mad Jude."  
  


\---

"What's the matter, Johnny?! You look like you've seen a ghost!" The witch howled, for there was nothing about what she just did that could be called human.  
  
Johnny barely the vomit down as he threw the bag away and to the floor. Some people may have thought it was a simple joke from the eccentric finalist of this race. That might have been why she hadn't been disqualified- her amnesia helped her get away with some of the more negotiable violations. Besides, who'd want to ruin the final stretch?  
  
But this was not Rio. Johnny had met Rio dozens of times and gotten to know at least something about her. This? This was not Rio. The woman riding beside him with a keen smirk may have had her hair, and rode her horse, but neither of the two were who they'd been before.  
  
Rio could be selfish. Rio could be unobservant. Rio could be obsessed with that asshole Yes, although Johnny was now speaking ill of the dead, but this was not her.  
  
Johnny would never get the image of Yes' decapitated head from his mind. It could barely be called a head when it was half-caved in and filled with puncture holes. Not when it was stuck on a stick and paraded in the air before being cast aside, the final bits destroyed so no trace of his looks where left.  
  
He knew who this was. The only person in this entire race who could have lasted until now while being this...Johnny didn't even know what to call it!  
  
"You're her. All this time, you were her." Johnny whispered to himself. It explained everything; not least why the bandit had been following Rio- if Rio ever existed- all this time. She was following orders! "Who even was that woman?! Who'd been using your name and doing your dirty work?"  
  
"No one important. Just a smelly idiot who happens to be my sister." Mad Jude replied. She rolled her eyes and leaned back on her saddle. "Twins, am I right? Not that it matters. I left her dying in the gutter before I got here. Got to clear everything before making my biggest, most terrible, more heart-breaking act of Despair!"  
  
Johnny raised his hand and aimed a nail right her. "Hand it over. Right now. I'm not letting you touch that thing for another moment!" He screamed.  
  
"But Johnny, the Corpse has no choice! Judas Iscariot- the traitor who only wanted forgiveness- will help spread my Despair!" Not a moment later, the Corpse looked like it was slithering away from her. Trying to, at least, with Jude's death-grip on it. "Same mission as the President, but a different heart! But what's the difference if the result's the same? Who cares?! I'm going to stop the greatest act of redemption! Is there anything better than that?"  
  
"You dying, right here, right now." Johnny readied to use Tusk. He would have used it anyway, but he couldn't afford any more delays.  
  
Jude just smiled as always and scoffed. "Johnny, you really should have just laid there and died with your butt-buddy back there. Then you wouldn't have to wrap your mind around this!"  
  
Johnny was lucky he didn't fire. Where Mad Jude was supposed to be, there was nothing but thin air and a crowded pack of adoring fans in front of him. Not a moment passed before he turned to the sound of frantic galloping ahead.  
  
It hadn't even been in the blink of an eye. She had been next to him and then she was racing away from him. Johnny couldn't even hit her at that range! He couldn't let her get away, but he let himself get caught up in confusion.   
  
Had that really just happened?  
  
 _What the hell?!_ Johnny tightened the grip on Slow Dancer's reins and quickly looked around. He couldn't discount Mad Jude working like those eleven assassins and being multiple people, or however their Stand had worked. He looked around and all he could see were cheering fans, encouraged by 'Rio's' waving, and Mad Jude slowly getting away after teleporting.  _That's impossible. Duran Duran makes you stop and repeat a movement twice, right? There's no way she could do something like that! Unless..._  
  
He saw it.  
  
Half was black and half was white. On the top of its head was a crown like you'd see in those old posters depicting a king, if in the shape of a bear's head and divided the same as its body, but the Stand had a feminine look on its face. At least, the face and body were, while the hands and feet were a mixture of a bear's paws, were it not for the same expression on its crown matched on its hands and feet. The faces were all the same, one of its eyes was like a button-eye and the other was a red, slightly jagged, horizontal stripe, and on the same half as the latter was a smile to fit its user's own.  
  
 _It's a Stand! Duran Duran must have evolved into it- or maybe it was a devolution from this Stand. Damnit._ Johnny had to push Slow Dancer a bit harder than before. He had to do everything he could to stop her. To stop that woman from reaching the end of the Steel Ball Run.  
  
Valentine killed Gyro. He killed a lot of innocent people to get what he wanted. But even then, Johnny could tell that he wasn't in it for himself. He was earnestly doing what he thought was just and good. If he'd been a monster, or in it for his own power or ego, then surely the Holy Corpse wouldn't have accepted him, right?  
  
But this? Mad Jude was worse in so many ways. Why else would the Holy Corpse be fighting against her?!  
  
If she wasn't lying, then she was trying to fulfil the President's plan. Love Train would affect the nation and make it paradise. But even a child would know the difference between Valentine and her. The former might think about helping the world, while Mad Jude? She'd just lay there and watch and probably make thing worse.  
  
Valentine would let the world burn for his country. Jude would burn the world to see what it'd look like.  
  
Johnny had to stop her. He had to hit her with Tusk Act 4 and have the Infinite Spin put an end to all this!  
  
All he had to do now was hit her.  
  


\---

_This is the greatest day of my life!_  
  
She killed Yes, forced Valentine to give her power over the fate of his country and the world, and she even took some souvenirs before he died! It'd be perfect for her plan! Who needed Martha now?! A bullet through the right eye had killed her good! With The World, there was nothing Jude couldn't do!  
  
All her sister had been good for in the end was adding yet another layer of despair for today! The two people closest to her heart had been snuffed out by her hand! It was enough to make her want to jump off a cliff and end it all! Would she ever feel despair like this again?! Could the world's burning come close?!  
  
Once she got her trophy and grand prize money, she'd reveal herself. This race of Steel's would be ruined by the revelation that sweet little Rio was actually Mad Jude all along! With the President's napkin and finger, she'd make her escape with him as a presumed hostage. All that wealth and despair, especially when the public would discover the truth, made this mission worth it.  
  
But then, it had just felt so  _right_ sentencing Johnny to his fate. Just when he thought he had the power to put himself back to zero, he would die from his own fuck-up.  
  
"He'll spend his dying moments futilely trying to save himself. He'll scream and cry and die while I hit the jackpot." Jude sharply sucked in the dribble running down her chin at the thought. "Johnny's Despair is so good! I wanna taste it forever."  
  
The Holy Corpse was securely over her shoulder, if heavy as shit, and she was making her way over to the vault where it would spend the rest of eternity. America would become a land of Hope while the world would become a place of only Despair. A world painted in perfect black and white.  
  
It was enough to make Prophets weep.  
  
"But first you have a date with destiny." She said to the Corpse, softly but firmly fighting her every step of the way. "You're not getting away that easily."  
  
"Judith..."  
  
Everything stopped. For the first time in her life, Judith Eydris was frozen solid in absolute shock. No boredom and no despair. Just shock.  
  
She put down the Holy Corpse, turned around, and looked at something she never thought she would see in her life. To say this was a one in a million chance would be an understatement. It was a one in a million times a million chance.  
  
But there she was. Bobbed black hair, dried blood running down the right face of her face, as it did with most of her body, her left leg limping somewhat from the other bullet wound, and she stood in front of Lucy Steel. For a kid, Lucy had balls. Jude had thought she'd be dead or shitting herself in fear by the end of all this and yet here she stood.  
  
And there Martha was, holding a shaking gun aimed barely straight at her little sister's heart. The air whimpered and sniffled.  
  
Jude was good at understanding things and people (but not as much as she thought). Her mind could analyse nearly anything and she had rarely, if ever, been wrong about her judgements made. It was the root of her ability and of her despair.  
  
She had never actually seen this coming.  
  
All she ever did was dream about it.  
  
"Martha...." She dropped the Holy Corpse to the ground. What was a single man compared to this? This beautiful, wonderful, despairful sight? Jude raised her arms as if to hug her sister, but remained still. There was only truth in this final moment. "Thank you. This...this is the happiest day of my life."  
  
She closed her eyes and waited for it. To the end, she would experience despair at the unknown.  
  
A sharp firing sound that was so familiar to her rang out, a pain like none other wracked her body, before it then went away. Her sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch all vanished. Her memories turned to nothing once more, but this time there was no notebook or confidant for her now. Her body, mind, and soul all became silent.  
  
Martha really did understand her, after all.  
  


\---

The papers would say that Rio was another casualty of what would be Mad Jude's last stand.  
  
In the midst of the celebrations for the Steel Ball Run and all who had helped build and sponsor it, she had struck from atop her steed Karma Chameleon. Pistols were fired into the air, the New York Bank had a hole in its wall, and Mad Jude had a proclamation to make about a certain assassination.  
  
It took hundreds of federal marshals, local law enforcement, and even volunteers to bring down the most feared bandit in the Wild West. Dozens were needed to kill her horse Karma Chameleon, who went down tearing flesh to shreds and almost laughing, while the casualty rate for its master was almost 100%. One woman made her death the equivalent of a military battle.  
  
The President was mourned with approval ratings in the 90s and the Steel Ball Run remained another testament of the legacy of the man who loved his country like none other. Rumours whispered of Mad Jude using the event to sneak in and strike, that the event ended how it began, as a blood-sport.   
  
Such people, however, were written off as moralistic academics and rumour-mongers. The same people who liked to insist on the fact that no body had ever been found in the aftermath of Mad Jude's demise. As if she would have simply allowed ELO to die out and live her life in anonymity.  
  
No, Judith Eydris died that day and all the world was grateful for it.  
  
Some time later, a new rumour began to spread. Tales of a great wolf resembling that of Fenrir stalking the bloodiest of battlefields.  
  
The Boxer Rebellion, the Boer War, the battles of the Eastern and Western Fronts of the First World War, the east coast of China during the war with Japan in the 1930s, and more all spoke of a giant black wolf leaping into the battle and tearing through all in its way. A mere story by paranoid veterans and victims of PTSD hallucinating to cope.  
  
The stories, however, varied somewhat. They spoke of the wolf greying more and more with every year. Some said they saw the beast change into a woman, but those were only a handful. Others said that the wolf had expert knowledge of the battlefield; as if it belonged there by fate.  
  
Regardless, the stories stopped by the end of the Second World War. The last few tales speak of the wolf, bloodied and haggard, leaping into the frozen mists of the German-Soviet battles and never returning. Some say Stalingrad, others say Leningrad, but all know that these were the last reports of that wolf.  
  
But these are just stories unrelated to one another.  
  
The life of Mad Jude was short, bloody, and ultimately pointless. Such a fine mind and clear ability was wasted in the name of hedonistic pleasure and sadism. A tragedy in its own right.  
  
And yet a tragedy lost to history.  
  
So ended the tale of the worst criminal in all the Wild West.  
  
Unmourned and lost to history.  
  


\---  


**Stand Stats**

****  
**Duran Duran  
User: Rio  
Stats**  
Destructive Power C  
Speed B  
Range B  
Durability C  
Precision C  
Developmental Potential A  
  
 **Abilities**  
Stand is the nature of Rio's Spin; when the user's Spin hits a object in motion, it will apparently 'forget' to move for a period of time no longer than two seconds and then 'remember' and move again at the same speed and force. The effect is that the target will appear to have lost control and repeated the same movement which will disorient them.   
  
This Stand's power feels as if it is a fragment of something greater; a power that should envelop The World. The period of time that the affected area 'forgets' might be extended from two-seconds, if the user remembers to train their power.


	24. Bonus Features Four

**Bonus Features Four**

* * *

**Joseph Disguise Reactions**

Akamatsu: "Joseph! What are you doing?!"

 

Saihara: "M-Mister Joestar, this really isn't necessary!"

 

Momota: "Oh my god, get back! I know how this story goes."

 

Harukawa: "Do you want to be killed."

 

Yumeno: "Nyeeeh...there is a dark magic afoot."

 

Tenko: "Such a terrible disguise. It'd obviously make Yumeno cry if she saw you. Only a menace is capable of such degeneracy!"

 

Kiibo: "Did Ouma put you up to this?!"

 

Gonta: "Gonta is confused."

 

Hoshi: "Infiltration's out. Guess we're doing this the hard way."

 

Iruma: "Aaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!"

 

Shinguji: "The act of wearing the clothes of a woman is an act practised in many countries. I have no reason to be surprised. That is, until I saw how bad yours is."

 

Toujou: "Mister Joestar, are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

 

Angie: "Nyahaha~ JoJo's playing dress-up! Too bad God disapproves."

 

Tsumugi: "Just looking at you...the insult to cosplay has ignited an awesome power. It's burning grip! Feel it! My love, my anger, and all my sorrow!"

 

Amami: "You know you didn't have to use that much make-up. And those colours don't suit you one bit."

 

Ouma: Hey! What's this pretty lady doing here? Joseph said he'd fight with me, but sends a girl to do it for him? Wow! He's such a scumbag, isn't he?! And he smells too!

* * *

**Eoh Team-Ups**

 

JUDE/Giorno: "Giorno! How's my big bastard doing?", "Do I know you?"

Victory: "You're...my father?", "Oh we have a lot to talk about."

 

Martha/Giorno: "That hair...those eyes...could you be her son?!", "You know my mother?"

Victory: "...My father is my mother?", "It's very complicated. I'll catch you up later."

 

Junko/Mad Jude: "Howdy, partn'r? Wanna go and show these varmits what's what?", "The Despair...it's flowing through me like none other!"

Victory: "Despair in the world of stopped time!", "Hey, no fair! I totally missed that."

 

JUDE/Mad Jude: "Heh, so you're the new girl?", "Damn straight."

Victory: "Urgh, how many of us have The World? Really kills my vibe.", "Then you're going to love what comes next."

 

**ZBR**

 

Rio/'Mad Jude': "Wh-Who are you?", "Come on! Even an amnesiac should know the despair-filled legend of Mad Jude! I'll show you!"

Victory: "You really can't remember, can you?", "Is something wrong? Huh? Where did you...who am I talking to?"

 

Rio/Yes: "Rio?! I thought I told you to stay back! You'll just get in the way.", "No way! I'm not letting my boyfriend die now! Duran Duran, let's do this!"

Victory: "Did I do something wrong?", "Other than getting so close with that ugly mug of yours? Yes."

 

Rio/Johnny: "Johnny Joestar, was it? You seem upset with me. Did I do something?", "...Goddamnit. You're lucky we're dealing with these people."

Victory: "It's not in my diary. So I couldn't have done something wrong, could I? You must have been mistaken.", "Maybe. I know who you are now."

 

Yes/Johnny: "Yes, I don't care what's going on with you and Rio. But the Corpse will be mine.", "Let's just deal with them first."

Victory: "They're gone. Now I can tell you that you'll take the Corpse from my cold, dead hands.", "If that's what it takes, Yes."

 

Jude/Johnny: "Mad Jude the Dame of the Derby and Johnny Joestar the Crippled Cunt! A duo like none other!", "..."

Victory: "Hey Jude, you shouldn't have turned your back on me.", "Get back! I'm about to show you why Mad Jude can show her back to anyone in The World!"

 

Jude/Yes: "Judith, we have to be quick. Don't waste time.", "Awww, my beloved is worried about me! How sweet!"

Victory: "I think we can call that a win, can't we?", "...Hey Jude, don't let me down."

 

Jude/Diego: "So you're my partner. Better hope those teeth don't come into snack time.", "Tch, you're not my type; in bed or in partnership."

Victory: "Guess you like older women then. Sixty? Seventy?", "I'll be glad for you to share their ending."

* * *

**VS Dialogue**

JUDE VS Giorno: "Father, mother. Whatever it is. I refuse to stand by and let you burn the world for kicks.", "My own son. My own flesh and blood. He's only gone and betrayed me! This Despair...it's once in a lifetime!"

JUDE Victory: "Oh Giorno, I can't kill you yet. I've got big plans for you."

Giorno Victory: "She flees. As I expected."

 

JUDE VS Pucci: "So little Pucci's come to steal the crown, huh? Have a go, if you think you're hard enough!", "JUDE, today I send you to hell. Tomorrow, I ascend to Heaven!"

JUDE Victory: "So close and yet so far. I guess I've milked humanity for all it's worth now."

Pucci Victory: "JUDE, in your dying moments, reveal to me the path to Heaven."

 

Giorno VS Pucci: "You're playing into her game.", "Sometimes the game will happen whether you play it or not. I mean to win."

Giorno Victory: "I ascend beyond the machinations of the dead."

Pucci Victory: "It's for the best. I cannot trust any spawn of JUDE's to not attempt to follow her path."

 

**ZBR**

 

Rio VS Johnny: "Johnny, I'm sorry. But if the Holy Corpse is what Yes needs, then I'll climb over your broken body to take it.", "Rio, just what is it that your lack of memory hides?"

Rio Victory: "I'm sorry, whoever you are. Maybe if you didn't attack me, it wouldn't have turned out like this."

Johnny Victory: "Duran Duran...if it wasn't for her memory, I might have died."

 

Rio VS Gyro: "You know, I still haven't forgiven you for what you pulled at that race.", "Excuse me? I'm afraid I don't know who you are."

Rio Victory: "What a strange person. But this power inside me...beyond Duran Duran...is this what Yes called my Stand?"

Gyro Victory: "She's dangerous. I pray Yes realises what he's doing."

 

Rio VS Yes: "Yes?! What are you doing?! I don't understand!", "All this time. You knew. You knew and you changed my life and you dominated it and you don't even care."

Rio Victory: "Mad Jude...is she the other woman?! Or am I the other woman?!"

Yes Victory: "Damnit Judith..."

 

Rio VS 'Mad Jude': "Why are you picking a fight with me? I've done nothing to you, have I?", "A reason? Ha! You don't know Mad Jude at fucking all!"

Rio Victory: "Why...Why does it feel like she let me win...What did she say her name was again?"

'Mad Jude' Victory: "You're lucky I'm feeling so nice. Maybe next time I'll go after that boyfrien-Woah! That was a power-spike!"

 

Jude VS Johnny: "You...You were Mad Jude all along? Why are you doing this?!", "Why is anyone in this race doing anything? I'm going for that Corpse, baby!"

Jude Victory: "Embrace an eternity of Spin, Johnny!"

Johnny Victory: "I caught her. For all her sins and evil, that monster's finally down."

 

Yes VS Jude: "Judith...I should have known.", "Yes, you really think I gave a shit about you? Your Mama put up a better fight and she was a goddamn vegetable!"

Yes Victory: "I can fix this...or maybe I should stop trying."

Jude Victory: "More! More Despair! More pain! More anguish in my heart!"

 

Jude VS Valentine: "Happy not-birthday, Mister President! You wanna see your gift?", "My gift will be to know that the worst terrorist in our nation's history is dead."

Jude Victory: "Let's see how the good people of these United States act when they see your corpse draped over the Washington Monument!"

Valentine Victory: "The children of the West, no of America, can sleep easy now. If I need someone like you, I can simply find another."

 

Jude VS Diego: "You wanna pick a fight with the baddest girl in the West? Fine then. Cowboys and dinosaurs it is.", "She knows about Scary Monsters? ...No matter. I'll tear her to shreds anyway."

Jude Victory: "You have a piece of the Holy Corpse? Wow. It's so different...it's so astounding...this is going to be good."

Diego Victory: "Her piece of the Holy Corpse...strange, but useful."

 

Martha VS Diego: "Dinosaurs against wolves? Then it's a question of battlefield experience.", "The true predator will win this. I'm going straight for the top."

Martha Victory: "You don't know real hunger."

Diego Victory: "Pathetic to the end."

 


	25. Fan Fight: Jotaro Kujo VS Miu Iruma

"Good grief. How long does it take for Gramps and the others to get here?" Jotaro leaned against the wall of the abandoned town and sighed. "All this crap about different worlds and timelines. It's got my head spinning."

 

Jotaro Kujo hadn't expected to be recruited by a man in a top hat and another with one eye and half his face missing, both of them warning of some kind of danger the likes of which no one had ever known. Apparently, one of them was the founder of the Speedwagon Foundation that had helped out Jotaro and the others throughout their quest against DIO. The other was a man named Kyosuke Munakata; Vice-President of something called the Future Foundation and someone who claimed to be an enemy of DIO.

 

They told them a story about different worlds and someone gathering them together. They said that the dead were returned and given Stands, but only to live as servants. They spoke of a sleeping God whose will was manipulated by the devil himself. He almost didn't believe them, despite all the crazy stuff he'd seen, until they revealed something that he never expected in his life.

 

Himself.

 

"I didn't want to believe it either. I thought they were talking crazy, until they said that a woman with strawberry-blonde hair in twintails was working with them." The other Jotaro said. "Go with it. We need to find out which worlds they're targeting and who they're bringing back. If we fail here, everything you've been through- everything I've been through- is going to be worth shit."

 

And so Jotaro met his grandfather when he was a young man, his uncle, his daughter, a version of his uncle from another dimension, his great-great-grandfather and his alternate-version, and a whole other set of people. That was ignoring the group of teenagers who claimed to be 'Ultimates' in certain fields. They all gave the same story; Dio Brando or someone by the name of either Junko Enoshima or Judith Eydris fucked with them. The only difference between the Dio of their world and his was that the latter wasn't a vampire and had a different Stand entirely.

 

_And these new people are supposed to help counter that? A Stand that negates effect with a single touch._ Jotaro grit his teeth. Holy Diver sounded a lot like what this Mastermind seemed capable of. It didn't take a detective to wonder what the connection was.  _How many worlds have I got to smash that bastard's head in?_

Oh well. Nothing he could do. The new allies they sent in should arrive at any minute. The only reason Jotaro stayed behind was that apparently one of them had a temper and he wasn't exactly Mister Diplomacy.

 

"And there's always an ambush." Jotaro looked above and saw it.

 

It was a salivating animal of some kind, shaped like a snake, but with the head of a dragon as spikes jutted out the end. It was a pinkish colour and dripped onto Jotaro's shoulders. The moment he made eye-contact, the creature pounced straight for him with open fangs. The feminine ecstasy in its voice made it sound like a woman orgasming. That was a mental-image he didn't need.

 

"Ora!" Star Platinum's fist fired out and slammed against the head of the creature. It flailed back with a pain-filled cry, but lost little of its pleasure. It made Jotaro's own Stand shake its hand free of the remaining goo with disgust.

 

"Hyahyahya!" A loud, piercing, and annoying as all hell voice screeched. Jotaro looked up at the roof of the building he'd been resting against. "Didn't think you'd beat it that hard. Though I guess the Master said you were experienced with doing it alone!"

 

She had strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes, atop her head was a pair of mechanical goggles, while she wore a bright pink school uniform that was modified to emphasise her breasts. Black, fingerless gloved hands petted the creature while a part of its tail curled around thigh-leather boots with long, sharp stilletos. Black straps with golden rings connected the ends of her socks to something up her skirt, while on her neck were a series of chokers.

 

"You're an enemy Stand-user?"

 

"I'm the girl with golden brain cells and a body that makes all the sluts and ducks wanna kill themselves in grief! A genius mind whose pride is matched by her talent. The kind of girl who guys like you wear hats and long-coats so they can spy and fap without being noticed. Who am I? I'm not just an enemy Stand user. I'm the genius inventor Miu Iruma! Get on your hands and knees and be prepared for the fucking of a lifetime!" Her Stand coiled over to her crotch and the head moved as she thrust her crotch back and forth, making it look like she was screwing an invisible person. "Feast your eyes on the wonder of my Weird Science! The Stand that can't be beaten in the hands of an Ultimate Inventor like-"

 

"Shut the hell up, you bitch!" Jotaro's roar cowed her. "Your mouth's like a broken toilet, just spewing shit endlessly. I guess I'll just have to close it up then."

 

"Y-Y-You said that me. You called me a dirty toilet. You called me a bitch." Iruma drooled as she listed the insults, her body quivering as she squealed like a pig. It almost seemed like her whole back wriggled for a moment, although Jotaro was more concerned with how much she was sweating. It was like she pissed herself. "Kyaaa~ Not even the Master pulled that one off."

 

Jotaro had first thought that this was the infamous Junko Enoshima, but was relieved to find it wasn't. Her hair and eyes matched, but it was the wrong style and her whole manner was off. She switched from arrogance to pathetic submission in the blink of an eye. He saw those types a thousand times back home. They talked tough but when they faced someone the same size, or bigger, than them and they backed down without question.

 

Dark energy surrounded her the way it did Avdol, Kakyoin, and Iggy. It seemed that she was another lost soul resurrected by whoever this 'Master' was. Whatever, he didn't expect this to be a tough fight by any means.

 

_I guess the Holy Corpse piece I have is going to come in handy. She might know something._ Jotaro thought to himself. Yet, out of nowhere, a metallic claw shot out and grabbed him at him. No. Not at him. His pocket! The pocket of his jacket where he put the Corpse! "What the-?"

 

It was fast enough a surprise that Jotaro couldn't even use Star Platinum in time. The claw coiled back into the wall of the building before it reached its target. Iruma stood with a cocky grin as she held out her hand and the claw dropped it down. Jotaro saw it now, he had a series of long metal arms to grab stuff from afar. She was safe from the range of his Star Platinum. "You really thought it'd be that easy? The great Miu Iruma has a cooldown period of five seconds! And creating inventions that I can use in my sleep is my speciality." She cackled, the noise searing into Jotaro's brain.

 

"So it's going to be like that then, huh? Fine." Jotaro stepped forward and tensed his legs. He pointed to Iruma, whose laughter stopped for another whimper. "Star Platinum: The World!"

 

"Weird Science-"

 

Time topped. His heart felt like Star Platinum had an iron-tight grip on it again, but Jotaro moved forward without the slightest hesitation. He only had five seconds to get close and take her out. Both he and Star Platinum leapt up to the rooftops. In a single leap, he did the impossible and bounded up to the rooftops in a mere four seconds. He pulled back his fist and made to land just ahead of the edge of the roof, a conveniently placed spot.

 

His instincts flared and he realised too late that he fell into a trap.

 

_What?_ Jotaro looked down and saw it. It was a mine! At the centre was a cartoon mouse head of some kind, but it was a mine still! He had already jumped down and couldn't stop himself. The tip of his shoe made contact as time resumed.

 

Star Platinum threw him back and kicked off the edge of the roof, but the shock of the explosion still sent him careening back into the building opposite. He sucked air through his teeth as his back smashed through brick and stone.

 

"You thought I didn't have a plan? Don't underestimate what a cyborg can do." She cried out. Jotaro didn't know if she was telling the truth, like that Nazi friend of the old man's, or if she was just talking crap.

 

He saw it now. Iruma wasn't just wearing pink, she was coated in the whole substance. Weird Science had dissolved from its dragon-head form and apparently could change its shape however much it liked. On her back, where metal arms slithered and writhed, Weird Science was there too. It connected the two biologically. Getting a closer look, Jotaro could see that she had more than one electronic tool attached to her.

 

"So that's what your Stand can do?" Jotaro said. Fusion with machinery that gave her powers. Her back was coated in metallic arms, she had a pink scouter over her left eye, and it looked as if she even had rockets coming out of her ass cheeks. Such an impressive power used in a vulgar way. The old man's younger self might have liked her.

 

"That's right. I can become one with my inventions! All the abilities to act while sleeping, the power to lay some electromagnetic mines, and even bombs! All these Iruma-patented inventions become one with me! Like children with a mother." Iruma blushed and stepped from side to side and step side to side. "And when it comes to foreign objects, well,"

 

Jotaro saw it. In one of claws, lifted carefully, hidden from sight when Jotaro had been focused on Iruma, was a mini-gun. Capable of firing hundreds of bullets in a matter of seconds too. Flies surrounded Iruma but she slobbered with glee regardless. Weird Science shot through her claw and into the mini-gun, almost swallowing it whole, while it spat a string of its own substance into her right arm.

 

"I gotta be a bit rough!" She cried out with one eye twitching. As the weapon melded into her arm, her voice turned to mush. "Aaaahhh." She moaned. Jotaro had no time to show more disgust, not when she raised her right arm, palm outstretched, and a gun-barrel spat out. "Time to get fucked!"

 

And the chase began. It wasn't just that Iruma used bullets, those Jotaro could easily handle. It was that she had apparently brought a whole load of weapons of her own design. She fired shots without a care and Jotaro had to deflect them. Star Platinum could catch physical projectiles, but one punch on an electrical pulse made his whole arm spasm. Iruma's mechanical arms brought her more pink-coloured tools to absorb, giving her more tools and ammo, while they fired the more conventional stuff. Iruma tried to absorb more of the normal weapons, only to lose control and have Weird Science spit them out.

 

Jotaro couldn't use time-stop for long. Iruma was too far away, too well-protected, and it was killer on his heart. When he used The World, he'd have to use it at the exact right moment. It didn't help that she could leap across rooftops and was dedicated to staying as far from him as possible. Not without running her mouth about him being a stalker, naturally. Jotaro had Star Platinum throw some of the debris at her, but they shattered against her metal arms or Weird Science emerged to take the blow. Its viscous liquid form kept it from being harmed.

 

All around them, the only life he could see and hear were insects buzzing about. Why not? Even if it hadn't been abandoned, the buildings were half-demolished and the dirt-roads were torn to shreds. Jotaro was surrounded by constant clouds of dust and wreckage. Iruma, meanwhile, was doing her best to fuse with a chainsaw onto her left hand. But it seemed she was having some trouble.

 

"Come on. Come on. Just another little tug." Iruma pulled on the bone of her left wrist, now a chainsaw wire, again and again until it activated. The chainsaw roared to life, even as Iruma's right hand discharged more bullets and made her squeal.

 

While she found her composure, Jotaro took his chance to close the distance. Iruma fired out her chainsaw as it flew with a cutting hum, Star Platinum was faster and stronger, however, and gripped both sides of chainsaw in its hands and cracked it in two. Jotaro winced as his palms were sliced open, but seeing bits of the chainsaw fly about was worth it. By now, they had surrounded themselves in broken building part, spent bullets, mines, and now pieces of a chainsaw.

 

_She can mix with her inventions and other inanimate objects. If it's not her's, she has more trouble, but even now she's using them in tandem. No wonder she has that ego. She's more dangerous than I thought._ Jotaro then saw them. As far as he could see. In those bits of rock and all over the floor and even inside the chainsaw, they were there. That same mouse-head too. It wasn't debris. They were bombs! Bombs she used Weird Science to play into her body and then into those bits and pieces she fired. She created an entire range of bombs to devastate the areas with!

 

"Suck on these balls, Jotaro. I made them just as big as yours!" Iruma pressed a button and all around Jotaro, for about ten meters, hundreds of tiny bombs detonated.

 

She must have calculated that Jotaro could only travel so far in his stopped-time. He was surrounded by ten metres of those bombs and that was discounting their impact range. The entire village bar the very borders was consumed in flame and destruction. The impact wave almost knocked Iruma back, but her four metal arms stabilised her and the rockets on her ass activated. She grunted and they increased in intensity, blowing her forward where she should have been repelled.

 

When all the smoke and dust cleared, there was barely anything left but a giant crater, one or two buildings, and a whole pile of rubble.

 

Iruma leapt to the floor and bust a gut laughing. Weird Science gurgled with delight with and inside her, making her shiver with delight, and she activated the Miu Iruma Virgin-Scanner(TM). She didn't see shit at the crater. "And now you're nothing more than a pile of ash. Nothing more to do here for a divine goddess like me." Iruma turned her back and began to walk away, before she scurried back and shoved her underwear down. Right where she guessed Jotaro had been before he disintegrated, she squatted. "Jotaro Kujo; you were shit, your life was shit, and now your corpse is going to be covered in the world's greatest person's shit too. Savour it like chocolate!"

 

As she strained, however, she had neglected two things. The first was that she never considered what would happen if Jotaro had Star Platinum throw him in the world of stopped-time. A Stand with the strength to shatter diamond would have no problem throwing Jotaro out of range for even an explosion like that. And due to the range of the Stand, it would be taken along with him long before the bombs went off. Iruma wouldn't be able to see a thing due to the speed and size of her own attack. Blinded by her own schemes!

 

The second, well, that was easy.

 

She hadn't expected for Jotario to not along still be alive and well, but pissed off enough to grab her by the hair and pull her up.

 

"I never liked loud girls." Jotaro growled, as Iruma attempted to escape more and more. She screamed out in a frenzy of panic and lust. Just great. "And I've never been that polite. When my mother gets too much, I tell her to back off. When people give me crap, I give it back. I'm what people call a delinquent, a thug, a man with no sense of decency." Star Platinum readies fists. "But you're one of the biggest pieces of trash I've met!"

 

"Ora!" Star Platinum's fist struck her right in the chest. Weird Science softened some of it, but it still struck true. As did the others. "Oraoraoraoraora!"

 

The fists slammed against her body, not even Weird Science' form could stop it from splattering over Star Platinum's arms as it pummelled Iruma down. All over her body, the machines she gathered that weren't her own cluttered out from her body and collapsed onto the floor. The mini-gun, the chainsaw, and a whole load of bullets and flies for some reason scattered out from her. Star Platinum made only final ORA right in the middle of her breasts and Iruma was sent spiralling and spinning away.

 

**Miu Iruma: Retir-**

"What the hell?" Jotaro felt it and stared down at his hands. They were covered in pink seeping goo.

 

He turned over to see the back of them and held back his vomit. It pulsated in a way that resembling fucking. A thin but long stream threaded out from both hands and towards the floor. They must have been hidden within the dust clouds, adopting their colour, so that Jotaro couldn't see them. Only they weren't so hidden now. They were pulled tight in the air, almost as if whatever was on the other side was going to reel him in.

 

He was wrong about that. It was Iruma being reeled into him. Jotaro readied another punch, but Iruma pulled her hand away and took his with her. They were connected by Weird Science's essence sticking to both their hands. Iruma had a wild grin on her face as she slammed into him chest-to-chest. Weird Science melded into their hands, locking them together, and brought them to their stomachs. It began to spread further and further over them.

 

"Caught ya!" Iruma declared. Jotaro tried to move Star Platinum, but he saw that the Stand was being devoured by the same stuff as he and Iruma were. Her spit landed just under his mouth as Weird Science pushed them further into one another and covered them more. But Jotaro could feel it. It was almost as if...they were merging into one another?! "Bet you never saw this coming. I always wanted the boy I love to have a piece of me in him. But I guess this is the next best thing! I take you out and maybe the Master will eat my pie. Both pies, if you know what I mean. You probably don't, as some moody virgin, but that won't matter. Your body's about to become part of the greatest being to ever exist! You can thank me later! Or when we're finally done here."

 

Of course. Iruma's Stand must have been reliant on dropping those tools because they affected her control somehow. Only inventions of her own could be mixed in without a problem. And those flies and bullets and bits of stone. Had she truly planned this far ahead? To cause an explosion to kill Jotaro, but then if he survived to mix herself into him and somehow assimilate him? Whether this was a strategy or just several spur-of-the-moment calls, she had proven dangerous.

 

In reality, he should have attacked from a distance. He should have been cautious of Weird Science coming close to him and doing just this. But instead he let the robbery of the Holy Corpse part blind him. Iruma made him think he needed to make it a battle of fists, when that was the worst thing possible to do. He had only one option.

 

"Star Platinum: The World!" Jotaro screamed. Time came to a standstill and Jotaro attempted to use this chance to escape. But Iruma didn't stop. Weird Science continued to grow. His eyes widened in shock. Was this how DIO felt when he saw him move back in Cairo? "What the hell?"

 

"We're becoming one, Jotaro. You can't break out of your own flesh. This fists of yours are deep, so far deep, in me. Finger it all you want. Consider it an act of charity."

 

_Is this how it ends? I get devoured by this damn thing?_ Jotaro remembered what Yellow Temperence, but this was worse. Weird Science in this state had a runny texture and salty smell that made Jotaro want out ASAP. He could feel their skin and muscles blending into one another. Metal and flesh mixed in and the two were essentially going to be eaten by the other.

 

He had to think of something. Damnit! He was going to be eaten at this rate! Jotaro's usual go-to; punching his way through the problem, was out. There was no way he could ball his fists, not when his fingers were each wrapped in Weird Science's grip.

 

That was it.

 

Jotaro figured out he was going to get out. It'd been a while since he pulled this trick. How long had it been? He didn't no. Damnit, he didn't even know if he could still use it. It had been a spur of the moment call, but wasn't this a spur of the moment kind of deal? With defeat near-certain, he didn't have a choice.

 

"Star Platinum: Star Finger!" Iruma eyes widened in horror and delight. Star Platinum's fingers shot up and tore through the pink goo that was stuck to its upper chest. With its speed and force, Star Platinum began to shave off Weird Science not just from its neck and pectorals, but from its arms too.

 

"So long and hard..."

 

"I told you once and I'll tell you again." Jotaro growled as he pushed himself. Being devoured into the body of someone like her? There was no way his story was ending like that! He pushed with all his will and found more and more give. "Shut the hell up, bitch!"

 

He quickened the pace of his Star Finger as his Stand slowly but surely scrubbed away Weird Science like a steel brush to a hard stain. The heat generated from the friction caused minor burns to appear all over Jotaro's body, but anything was better than having to share a body with Iruma. His fingers may not have been able to form a fist, but Star Platinum's could grow. And they did. Again and again, all over its body, until it was nearly free.

 

Jotaro, meanwhile, fought with his mind. Iruma's expression changed against from slavish lust to fright and Weird Science stopped in its tracks. Jotaro's will to fight had stayed its hand! His all his strength, he pushed and pulled against the bonds of the Stand that trapped him. Star Platinum rushed to his side to assist. User and Stand together! Star Platinum tore its fingers into the joint chests of Jotaro and Iruma and wrenched an opening free. It was enough for Jotaro to nudge his own fingers through the opening.

 

The weakness of Weird Science's latest ability had revealed itself. It could force a unity of two bodies, but it could not do the same for its souls! And not only that, but Iruma's control would never be secure so long as Jotaro's drive- the same drive that saw him through his bizarre adventure and had run through the blood of countless Joestars- stayed true! In a battle of wills, no matter how smart or tactical Iruma was, she could never defeat him!

 

"Miu Iruma, you were actually a decent opponent, but you made one mistake." Jotaro wrenched his own arms off and gripped the scruff of her shirt, pulling her in close so she could see the look of determination on his face. "You really pissed me off!"

 

This time there was no chance of Weird Science taking advantage. In its hunger, it had solidified too much to just splash onto Star Platinum's hands and Jotaro had another old trick to keep it back. In place of its usual battlecry, the Stand instead blew out of its mouth an endless gust of wind that blew Weird Science back into Iruma's body. One other advantage of this was that it formed a decent cushion for the girl. Which meant that she would survive even the strongest of Star Platinum's blows.

 

Which meant he had no reason to hold back! No reason to hesitate! No reason to show mercy!

 

Star Platinum's assault was as vicious and unrelenting as ever. Dozens, if not hundreds, of punches landed on Weird Science and Iruma. Any traces of the pink substance on Jotaro or his Stand had been knocked out long ago. And now it was its user's turn. Star Platinum finished things off with a single, but loud, ORA and an uppercut that sent Iruma flying into the air and towards where she rightly belonged.

 

A nearby garbage-can, somehow perfectly intact throughout the battle, was where Iruma landed head-first. Her legs dangled outside while the rest of her body remained in the trash.

 

**Miu Iruma [Ultimate Inventor]/Weird Science: Retired.**

Jotaro saw the piece of the Holy Corpse shoot out from the trash-can. He sighed and didn't question which part of Iruma's body that came out of. All that mattered was that he used it and broke the spell Iruma's mind seemed to be under. As much as he hated to admit it, she had actually been a worthy opponent. Her Stand was dangerous and her Talent moreso. If she hadn't been distracted by lust and her own short-sightedness, Jotaro would have probably lost this battle.

 

But he didn't. So he took a step forward, until he heard it.

 

"Is that Iruma?" A shy and nervous voice asked, almost that of a woman's.

 

Jotaro turned to see the three new arrival come with some familiar faces. Keeping pace with the old man and Polnareff was a girl in red with black hair tied in two long twintails. Behind her was a kid in all-black who seemed to be the one who shouted, and behind him, panting and wheezing for breath, was a tiny girl dressed like a stage-magician or witch of some kind.

 

"Jotaro!" The old man was waving over to him, behind him was Polnareff and the three kids. "These are the three I told you about. Shuichi Saihara, Maki Harukawa, and Himiko Yumeno. The Stand-users who comes from this 'Master's' world."

 

"I know her. She was from the Killing Game. The Ultimate Inventor; Miu Iruma." The kid said staring at her with sympathy. Jotaro shrugged.

 

"She got corrupted by this 'Master'. I was about to heal her. She kept talking about fucking and getting eaten and shitting on stuff."

 

"To think that her mind could have been corrupted so much." Polnareff said mournfully.

 

"Yeah...corrupted. Not like her at all." The witch dipped her hat over her eyes.


End file.
